Video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), Thursday reported a profit for the third quarter, benefited mainly by strong response to Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero 5, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises, as well as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft. Earnings for the quarter came in-line with the analysts' expectations, while revenues fell short. Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its outlook for calendar year 2009.
The Santa Monica, California-based company posted GAAP net income of $15 million or $0.01 per share for the third quarter, and non-GAAP net income of $55 million or $0.04 per share. For the year-ago quarter, the company reported a loss of $108 million or $0.08 per share, and non-GAAP net earnings of $92 million or $0.07 per share.
On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.04 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Activision had earlier estimated a GAAP loss of $0.03 per share and non-GAAP earnings of $0.03 per share for the quarter.
Results for the quarter are not directly comparable with the year ago period, as the year earlier net income does not reflect the results of the combined company. On July 9, 2008, the business combination between Activision Inc. and Vivendi Games Inc. was consummated, and Activision Inc. was renamed Activision Blizzard Inc.
Activision Blizzard's GAAP net revenue for the quarter was $703 million, and its non-GAAP net revenue was $755 million. This compares to the company's prior GAAP net revenue outlook of $680 million , and non-GAAP net revenue outlook of $700 million.
Twenty-four analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $724.04 million for the third quarter.
Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, said, "Our performance was driven by positive audience response to Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero 5, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty franchises, as well as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft."
For the third quarter, Activision Blizzard increased its U.S. and European share 1.2 points over last year, across all platforms to 12.3% and had two of the top-10 best-selling titles in the U.S., Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero World Tour, according to the NPD Group (U.S. data) and Charttrack and Gfk (European data).
Product sales fetched $411 million, while subscription, licensing and other revenues amounted to $292 million for the quarter under review.
Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG generated revenues of $301 million, representing 43% of total net revenues. Sony PlayStation 3 contributed $73 million, while Sony PlayStation 2 contributed $37 million to the quarterly revenues. Microsoft Xbox 360 fetched $104 million, and Nintendo Wii generated $72 million of net revenues.
North America accounted for $378 million in revenues or 54% of total revenues, while Europe recorded $287 million, with Asia Pacific bringing in $38 million in revenues.
On September 19, the company relaunched MMORPG World of Warcraft in China.
As of September 30, Activision Blizzard had repurchased about 89 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $10.81 per share or $960 million, under its stock repurchase program since the program's inception in November 2008.
For the nine-month period of 2009, Activision Blizzard reported net income of $399 million or $0.30 per share, and total net revenues of $2.72 billion.
For the prior year period, the company posted a net loss of $36 million or $0.04 per share, and net revenues of $1.39 billion.
Non-GAAP revenues were $2.28 billion for the nine-month period of 2009.
For the fourth quarter, Activision Blizzard anticipates a GAAP loss of $0.04 per share, and non-GAAP earnings of $0.43 per share. GAAP net revenues are estimated to be $1.33 billion, and non-GAAP net revenues are expected to be $2.22 billion. The Street estimates earnings of $0.44 per share on revenue of $2.30 billion for the fourth quarter.
During the fourth quarter of calendar year 2009, Activision Publishing plans to release five holiday titles. In November, Activision Publishing plans to release Infinity Ward's highly anticipated first-person action game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 globally. The company expects the title will be one of the top entertainment properties of the holiday season, as pre-orders for the game are higher than for any previous Activision title.
For calendar year 2009, the company continues to expect GAAP earnings of $0.26 per share, and non-GAAP earnings of $0.63 per share. GAAP net revenues are estimated to be $4.05 billion, and non-GAAP net revenues are expected to be $4.50 billion. Analysts currently project earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $4.55 billion for the year.
Activision Blizzard closed Thursday's regular trading session at $10.87, up 19 cents or 1.78% on a volume of 22.04 million shares. In the after-hours, the shares further gained 28 cents or 2.58%.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.