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Activision's (ATVI) New World of Warcraft Game Creates Record
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Activision Blizzard recently revealed that Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has become the fastest-selling PC game. Since its launch on Nov 23, the company has sold 3.7 million units of the game globally, setting a new all-time record.
The record for the industry’s the fastest-selling PC game was previously held by Blizzard’s Diablo III, which sold more than 3.5 million copies during the first 24 hours of its release.
Notably, the company benefits from the increased player engagement across the World of Warcraft franchise. Moreover, total player time in the game so far this year has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, Activision announced that the franchise has hosted its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions in the months leading up to the game’s release and the time since its launch.
Strong Franchise Performance Fuels Growth
Activision, along with its Zacks Toys - Games – Hobbies industry peers Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO - Free Report) , Nintendo (NTDOY - Free Report) and Glu Mobile , is a major benefactor of the ongoing elevated demand for video games.
Coronavirus-led social distancing practices have confined people to their homes. Therefore, demand for video streaming and gaming has bolstered during the pandemic. Per NPD, consumer spending on video games in the United States is expected to reach $13.4 billion in the holiday period, reflecting growth of 24% year over year.
Notably, Activision’s shares have surged 41.7% year to date, compared with the industry’s rally of 26.7%. Shares of Glu Mobile, Take-Two and Nintendo have returned 57%, 50% and 41.6%, respectively.
Activision Blizzard, Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Robust adoption of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s top franchises such as Call of Duty (“COD”), World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Candy Crush Saga, serves as a key growth driver. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Moreover, last week, the company revealed that the COD franchise's net bookings have soared 80% so far in 2020 and surpassed $3 billion over the past year. Also, more than 200 million people have played a title in the series so far this year and total units sold jumped 40% year over year.
Additionally, the success of the company’s World of Warcraft and COD franchise bodes well for its solid gaming portfolio and is expected to aid the expansion of its player base. Markedly, in third-quarter 2020, Activision Blizzard’s in-game net bookings were up 76.6% year over year to $1.2 billion. Further, for 2020, the company expects net bookings to be $8.1 billion.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.
Image: Shutterstock
Activision's (ATVI) New World of Warcraft Game Creates Record
Activision Blizzard recently revealed that Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has become the fastest-selling PC game. Since its launch on Nov 23, the company has sold 3.7 million units of the game globally, setting a new all-time record.
The record for the industry’s the fastest-selling PC game was previously held by Blizzard’s Diablo III, which sold more than 3.5 million copies during the first 24 hours of its release.
Notably, the company benefits from the increased player engagement across the World of Warcraft franchise. Moreover, total player time in the game so far this year has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.
Additionally, Activision announced that the franchise has hosted its highest number of players on monthly or longer-term subscriptions in the months leading up to the game’s release and the time since its launch.
Strong Franchise Performance Fuels Growth
Activision, along with its Zacks Toys - Games – Hobbies industry peers Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO - Free Report) , Nintendo (NTDOY - Free Report) and Glu Mobile , is a major benefactor of the ongoing elevated demand for video games.
Coronavirus-led social distancing practices have confined people to their homes. Therefore, demand for video streaming and gaming has bolstered during the pandemic. Per NPD, consumer spending on video games in the United States is expected to reach $13.4 billion in the holiday period, reflecting growth of 24% year over year.
Notably, Activision’s shares have surged 41.7% year to date, compared with the industry’s rally of 26.7%. Shares of Glu Mobile, Take-Two and Nintendo have returned 57%, 50% and 41.6%, respectively.
Activision Blizzard, Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Activision Blizzard, Inc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Activision Blizzard, Inc Quote
Robust adoption of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s top franchises such as Call of Duty (“COD”), World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone and Candy Crush Saga, serves as a key growth driver. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.
Moreover, last week, the company revealed that the COD franchise's net bookings have soared 80% so far in 2020 and surpassed $3 billion over the past year. Also, more than 200 million people have played a title in the series so far this year and total units sold jumped 40% year over year.
Additionally, the success of the company’s World of Warcraft and COD franchise bodes well for its solid gaming portfolio and is expected to aid the expansion of its player base. Markedly, in third-quarter 2020, Activision Blizzard’s in-game net bookings were up 76.6% year over year to $1.2 billion. Further, for 2020, the company expects net bookings to be $8.1 billion.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2021.
Click here for the 6 trades >>