Back to top

Image: Bigstock

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Take-Two Interactive, BJ's Wholesale Club, SP Plus and Townsquare Media

Read MoreHide Full Article

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 20, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Take-Two Interactive (TTWO - Free Report) , BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ - Free Report) , SP Plus (SP - Free Report) and Townsquare Media (TSQ - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Take-Two's (TTWO - Free Report) Grand Theft Auto VI Hacked, Shares Fall

Take-Two Interactive is the latest victim of cyberattack with its upcoming Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI getting hacked. Per a Bloomberg report, a hacker published extensive footage of the game on an online message board over the weekend.

The company’s shares were down 4.34% in pre-market trading following the news. The video-game giant’s shares have declined 30.1% compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s drop of 34.7% year to date.

Grand Theft Auto: Key Catalyst for Take-Two

Take Two’s growth is primarily driven by its most popular franchises, GTA, Red Dead Redemption and NBA 2K. The company’s five best-selling franchises (including GTA), in the aggregate, accounted for 83.2% of net revenues in fiscal 2022.

Developed by Rockstar Games, GTA has been the top-revenue generator for Take-Two over the years. GTA generated 30.9% of net revenues in fiscal 2022. The latest installment, GTA V, has sold more than 170 million units globally.

TakeTwo Interactive Software, Inc. price-consensus-chart | TakeTwo Interactive Software, Inc. Quote

Take-Two’s first-quarter fiscal 2022 results benefited from the launch of GTA V for PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X/S, Grand Theft Auto Online standalone, and the launch of GTA+, the premium membership available exclusively on these consoles.

The latest generation console players of Grand Theft Auto Online grew more than 40% in the fiscal first quarter. The GTA Online community’s size was 49% larger than the pre-pandemic first quarter of fiscal 2020.

What Awaits Take-Two’s Shares in the Rest of 2022?

GTA VIgetting hacked doesn’t bode well for Take-Two’s shares, as reflected by the pre-market decline. Per Bank of America estimates, cited by Reuters, the much-anticipated game is estimated to generate bookings of $3.5 billion at launch and an annual average of $2 billion in the long haul.

Nevertheless, Take-Two is expected to benefit from the launch of NBA 2K23 and the upcoming launches of PGA Tour 2K23 (Oct 11) and New Tales from the Borderlands (Oct 21).

The acquisition of Zynga established Take-Two as one of the largest publishers of mobile games. The deal unified Take-Two’s top-class portfolio of PC and console games, and Zynga’s leading mobile franchises.

In the fiscal first quarter, Zynga continued to experience strength in player engagement and retention.

Take-Two now expects to deliver net bookings of $5.8-$5.9 billion for fiscal 2023, of which Zynga is expected to bring in 45% and Rockstar Games 17%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Take-Two currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the same industry are BJ’s Wholesale Club, SP Plus and Townsquare Media, all three sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BJ’s Wholesale shares have gained 15% in the year-to-date period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BJ’s fiscal 2023 earnings has moved 7.8% higher over the past 30 days to $3.60 per share.

SP Plus shares are up 13.3% in the year-to-date period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SP’s 2022 earnings has increased 2.1% over the past 30 days to $2.89 per share.

Townsquare shares have lost 38.9% in the year-to-date period. The consensus mark for TSQ’s 2022 earnings has been steady at $2.10 per share over the past 30 days.

Why Haven’t You Looked at Zacks' Top Stocks?

Our 5 best-performing strategies have blown away the S&P's impressive +28.8% gain in 2021. Amazingly, they soared +40.3%, +48.2%, +67.6%, +94.4%, and +95.3%. Today you can access their live picks without cost or obligation.

See Stocks Free >>

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com                                      

https://www.zacks.com                                                  

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Published in