Publisher stocks hit by market freefall; analysts optimistic

by Ross Miller { Sep 30th 2008 at 5:40PM }

If you haven't looked out your window today, you might have missed stocks that are falling faster than Chicken Little can blink. Game publishers were not immune, as the NASDAQ (where most publishers are listed) Composite Index fell 199.61 points, or 9.14 percent. As for the individual publishers, Gamespot points out that Electronic Arts saw a 9.16 percent drop to $36 a share. Activision Blizzard was hit hard with a 13.8 percent drop to $14.12 a share. As for the console makers, Sony and Microsoft saw a 5.09 and 8.72 respective percent drop. Overseas, Ubisoft's stock dropped a whopping 21.5% to €45.50 (US $65.37) on the Euronext market.

Despite these stock drops, analysts speaking to Gamasutra remain optimistic, with Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter expecting none of the companies to be affected by the lending crisis. Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian predicts a "cocooning" effect where people flock to games as a cost-efficient form of escapism. In what is surely the most "no duh" prediction, Sebastian expects World of Warcraft to continue serving as an unwavering money stream for Activision Blizzard.

[Image Source: Digg]

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, analyst, blizzard, colin-sebastian, dow-jones, ea, electronic-arts, euronext, facepalm, michael-pachter, microsoft, nasdaq, nyse, sony, stock-market, ubisoft

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Shagittarius @ Sep 30th 2008 5:47PM

Holy Day late batman. This happened yesterday...today the market is back up almost 500 pts.

Dirty @ Sep 30th 2008 5:51PM

Facepalm indeed.

In A World (XBL) @ Sep 30th 2008 5:52PM

...and therefore still down about 278 points. Anyways, this is only the beginning...

Shagittarius @ Sep 30th 2008 5:55PM

We can only hope.

E.J. @ Sep 30th 2008 6:43PM

Hope for a change that matters?

Ugh, I hate these campaign slogans from both parties!

Poisoned Al @ Sep 30th 2008 6:46PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_cat_bounce

Altairio @ Sep 30th 2008 6:57PM

Not sure the dead cat bounce applies since short selling has been reigned in. We'll see.

Poisoned Al @ Sep 30th 2008 7:12PM

Good point. Yesterday was Christmas for canny sorters. I'm hoping the arseholes get stuck with duff shares tho. It's pricks like them that always get us into this mess.

BigD145 @ Sep 30th 2008 8:46PM

Yes, but even without considering inflation, it's lower than it was 7 years ago.

Dirty @ Sep 30th 2008 5:50PM

Ummm today was the third largest stock gain in history. That was yesterday. Would have been a great time to buy some of those stocks... o well, Im sure it will plummet once again on thursday when the bailout fails again.

Poke your head out the window joystiq.

In A World (XBL) @ Sep 30th 2008 5:55PM

Yeah, plus the bailout (in its current form anyway) wouldn't really do anything to stop the instability in the Stock Market.

Poisoned Al @ Sep 30th 2008 6:54PM

It's not surprising. It's called a dead cat bounce. The price falls dramatically when everybody panics, way past what the shares are worth, and the next day it's corrected. The idea is, if you drop a dead cat from high enough, it'll bounce when it hits the ground. It'll look like it's moving and still alive for a second, but the reality is, it's still stone cold dead.

j.howlett @ Sep 30th 2008 5:54PM

that pic makes it all better

343 Guilty Fart @ Sep 30th 2008 6:01PM

I love how the media always manages to find these pics of anguished stockbrokers. I wonder if they ask them to pose or something?

"Sir, we need you to look a little sadder. YES! That's it, hold it!"

Zertoss @ Sep 30th 2008 5:55PM

To video games, the cause of, and solution to all of life's problems.

j.howlett @ Sep 30th 2008 5:58PM

i thought that was beer

Zertoss @ Sep 30th 2008 6:01PM

Not just beer, but alcohol in general, and that was back in the 90's. We're in the 21st century now, and the new age needs a new scapegoat/elixir.

Dirty @ Sep 30th 2008 6:38PM

I thought that was women...

Mr Khan @ Sep 30th 2008 6:00PM

The angry Nintendo fanboy in me was about to inquire "what, Nintendo isn't a console maker now?" then i remembered they were only traded on the Japanese stock exchange

But how are they faring through all of this?

Neebs @ Sep 30th 2008 6:08PM

Because how a business does is SUPER IMPORTANT to the individual consumer like yourself if they're still making games.

Mr Khan @ Sep 30th 2008 6:28PM

That statement could be readily applied to the whole thread, though.

Sure, boom or bust, i'm still playing Wario Land tonight, but it is relevant, at least.

DBuck_Eye @ Sep 30th 2008 6:04PM

I'm pretty sure Nintendo is listed on NASDAQ...
Anyway, I thought Activision Blizzard was the largest game publisher in the world, so why are their stocks lower than EA's?

Delgado @ Sep 30th 2008 6:11PM

Stock value =/= company size.

Dirty @ Sep 30th 2008 6:40PM

I cant believe how many people around here are so stupid about stocks.

You can have more shares outstanding, in fact stocks will often split to lower their price per share while still maintaining the value of the company.