Take-Two in trouble with NASDAQ
by Justin Murray 
{ Nov 6th 2006 at 8:25PM }
Take-Two Interactive, publisher of the famed Grand Theft Auto series, is under pressure to complete its quarterly report. NASDAQ has filed a non-compliance on the company for failing to report its July 31, 2006 statement on time. If Take-Two fails to comply, the company may have its stocks de-listed from NASDAQ, which would cause havoc with the share prices.
Take-Two's official stance is that they wish to review their stock options before releasing the financial report, though taking over three months to do so is suspect. According to the SEC, 10-Q forms (the form Take-Two is late on) must be filed within 40 days of the end of the financial period. There's gotta be something more than a simple review of stock options going on.
Could Take-Two be shuffling around records to hide or eliminate a fraudulent transaction? Maybe the media exposure over Bully has hampered sales; TT could be stalling for time to release the bad news, hoping the share price impact is softened by strong holiday sales outlooks. In any case, Take-Two needs to get their act together or investors may look elsewhere to keep their retirement assets. If so, TT would need a mega-hit series to keep the investor's money from falling out of their pockets ... oh, wait.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Izuna Drop @ Nov 6th 2006 8:38PM
Yeah... my stock really needs to go up...
Awesome-Q @ Nov 6th 2006 8:48PM
LOL maybe Take-two should get Tommy Vercetti to beat the crap out of the NASDAQ executives.
Or they should get the kid from Bully to get gay on the executives.
Wow I'm such a loser, why am I posting this crap?
Izuna Drop @ Nov 6th 2006 8:52PM
I guess the Joystiq audience either aren't investors, don't want to comment about anything that doesn't involve fanboyisms, or everyone is sleeping. I definitely don't believe the latter.
Maybe you guys should have thrown in something partially controversal in the statement. "T2 in trouble with the NASDAQ, GTA for Xbox 360 cancelled." ; )
troc 59 @ Nov 6th 2006 9:17PM
In your wildest of dreams do you really think for a nanosecond,with a franchise such as mega selling GTA that Take-Two is having financial problems?? Don't think so. If you cut thru the red herrings and corporate gobbledygook you will see that the bastards are slippin'us the vaseline jar.Price hikes to come on the next-gen stuff and we won't feel a thing! lol!
John @ Nov 6th 2006 9:55PM
I hope they are having trouble, stock prices will go down, I buy in, they go back up, I sell.
Justin @ Nov 6th 2006 10:02PM
Izuna Drop -
I wish I could say that, talk about the story. However, if I did, that'd be lying (or starting a rumor, however you take it). More gamers SHOULD watch the financials. Game publishers and developers are businesses first and foremost. If they're not doing well, we may end up losing out on our favorite games.
Robotic House Plant @ Nov 6th 2006 10:09PM
This is not necessarily concern for the worst. There could be reasons why they're late. Perhaps auditors have not completed an internal review or are not signing off on financials as the company views them. Perhaps the company needs to restate financials because of accounting rule changes previously not considered. Or (and this is remote) maybe they want the company delisted.
I would hazard to guess that the Hot Coffee incident, and the more recent publicity over Bully have caused a number of people to look really closely at Take Two. The 10-Q has to be accurate and truthful. If not, they open themselves to shareholder lawsuits or an SEC investigation.
J.Goodwin @ Nov 6th 2006 10:33PM
Actually, given the trouble they have with their options, it would have been a miracle for them to make that filing deadline.
These things aren't simple to account for in the best case scenario, and when you've got a government investigation to go along with attempting to track down and properly value for restatement several years of financials...it's gonna take a while.
And if they knowingly certify false quarterlies, then they'll be in a lot more trouble than a temporary delisting.
Jonah Falcon @ Nov 6th 2006 10:44PM
It's troubling, to say the least. I withhold any further comments, though, til more information comes through -- like what Take 2 is going to report.
Izuna Drop @ Nov 7th 2006 12:43AM
Justin -
Duly noted. : )
I know you have integrity to uphold, I was just a bit under whelmed by the response. I completely agree with you. Gamers absolutely need to watch game companies financials. It's one thing to know everything about games themselves, but it's just as important for gamers (and non-gamers) to know that this is a serious industry and we are not just game nerds, but have a vested interest in the industry as a whole. Learn some economics and finance and then pay attention to the "other side" of the industry.
Mad Max @ Nov 7th 2006 6:10AM
Investigations into stock option practices and making sure all past financials are correct takes a boat load of time. The company I work for, Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS), was one of the first companies this year to be hit hard with this widespread back-dating of stock options scandal and our top executives were all fired because of it. Vitesse was delisted from NASDAQ for taking too long to wrap up the investigation into the stock options back-dating and not being able to deliver an up-to-date statement of financials. Half a year later and Vitesse is still working to get their past 3 years of financials straightened out. There are many more companies out there right now going through the same problems, getting the same delisting notices from NASDAQ. My point, taking over 3 months to investigate stock option practices and ensuring your financials are all up-to-date and correct is not something to freak out about. Also, it looks like Take Two probably won't be delisted as they are meeting with NASDAQ members to explain their circumstances: http://biz.yahoo.com/e/061106/ttwo8-k.html
hehehhehe @ Nov 7th 2006 1:30PM
Mad Max is the only one here that knbows what he's talking about.
Stock options backdating (this is the problem) is affecting close to 140 companies, and many of these companies are delaying their filings. This has nothing to do with Bully or anything else... If you're going to give financial news, make sure you know what you're talking about.