Publishing powerhouse Activision Blizzard (or "A.B. Atta' Boy" to its friends) has released its fiscal quarter results for the three-month period ending September 30. Overall, the company incurred a $108 million net loss, with a bulk of that (at least $188 million) from costs related to the merger with Vivendi Games. Top games for the quarter were Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, GH: On Tour and money gusher World of Warcraft.
As part of its September quarter fiscal results, Activision Blizzard has announced that it has "authorized a stock repurchase program under which the company can repurchase up to $1 billion of the company's common stock." The company's stock price has been in decline since September (and has taken a noticeable hit today, too). While the motivations aren't known, it is likely in part to increase the earnings per share. Don't feel too bad for A.B., though. After all, Wrath of the Lich King is just around the corner.
Reader Comments (23)
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:43PM (Unverified) said
Seeing as how 2 of their top games were from the Guitar Hero series your comment doesn't really apply.
Reply
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:39PM (Unverified) said
Hey guys, watch me do a redninja impression:
FIRST
You see, the reason that worked, was that saying "FIRST" is the only thing he does. The real thing is, that by saying that, I failed really, really hard. This is at least the second post.
Reply
FIRST
You see, the reason that worked, was that saying "FIRST" is the only thing he does. The real thing is, that by saying that, I failed really, really hard. This is at least the second post.
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:43PM (Unverified) said
They actually exceeded expectations earning 7c per share as opposed to 4c per share. Of course that is not including the merger costs.
If they lost 108 million and the merger cost 188 million, I'm calling that a win.
Also, most stocks have been in decline since September. It's a recession.
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If they lost 108 million and the merger cost 188 million, I'm calling that a win.
Also, most stocks have been in decline since September. It's a recession.
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:42PM BananaBoat said
Know how to make a profit...?
RELEASE DIABLO III F***ERS!!!!!!!!!!
...please?
Reply
RELEASE DIABLO III F***ERS!!!!!!!!!!
...please?
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:48PM linuxiswin said
how about BlizzardVision??? yes? no? maybe? ok ill shut up now
Reply
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 5:54PM (Unverified) said
Q2 09? Blogs report stuff so fast now, we're getting news from the future.
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Posted: Nov 5th 2008 6:25PM puerrican85 said
Was thinking the same thing... I figured it had to be true though.... Blizzard's parent company losing money?!!? Losses?!?! IMPOSSIBLE!!! WEEAAAGGHGH...**HEAD EXPLODES**
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Posted: Nov 5th 2008 7:29PM darkinchworm said
"Rushing" out? They once discussed plans to release an expansion yearly, and while you could say that BC was released last year, in a measure of months it was nearly two years ago. And we've known about WotLK for quite some time... it spent a while in beta...
Thanks for trying your hand at being clever. Come back when you have good material.
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Thanks for trying your hand at being clever. Come back when you have good material.
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 6:21PM (Unverified) said
I'm glad they lost money. Activision is about the biggest of the greedy corporate whores in the video game industry and Blizzard seems to be following suit with some of their more recent decisions.
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Posted: Nov 5th 2008 7:06PM (Unverified) said
Don't worry. Today's hookers wear a rubber mouthpiece so the blowing doesn't give them the worn Hooker Mouth.
Reply
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 8:25PM (Unverified) said
"Notwithstanding this month’s anticipated decline, we believe that the video game software sector remains highly recession-resistant," - Pachter
EA - lost $309M in Q2 09.
Activision - lost $108M in Q2 09.
THQ - lost $115M in Q2 09.
Midway - lost $34.8M in Q2 09.
Highly recession-resistant? I think not.
Reply
EA - lost $309M in Q2 09.
Activision - lost $108M in Q2 09.
THQ - lost $115M in Q2 09.
Midway - lost $34.8M in Q2 09.
Highly recession-resistant? I think not.
Posted: Nov 5th 2008 8:28PM Keithustus said
Their Q2 '09 didn't include a WoW expansion; they'll do much better in their next quarter.
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Posted: Nov 5th 2008 9:01PM KarlW said
If they lost $108M, of which $188M was down to the merger, they actually made a $80M profit from trading. Of course, net, it's a loss because those profits and more were eaten up by the merger. Still, it's not like the merger will eat another $188M next quarter.
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