Activision Blizzard (ATVI) was, at the time of this writing, off by 3% to a quote of $11.28. Strong volume accompanied the dip. It's a shame, because the latest earnings report wasn't all that bad.

According to the Associated Press, adjusted income of 12 cents per share was three pennies ahead of the consensus estimate. The top line, after taking into account some items, also beat projections. Furthermore, management raised its outlook for the full fiscal year.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard Down Following Third-Quarter Results

Activision Blizzard Down Following Third-Quarter Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) is trading down this afternoon. At the time of this writing, the video-game publisher behind the Call of Duty series was off by over 4% to $10.82. Volume was heavy.

That's an interesting move for the stock, because it may be an opportunity for very short-term traders who are willing to take on extremely significant risk. I haven't felt comfortable about an Activision Blizzard trade for a long time. I would love for the shares to dip below $10 at some point; then, I might have reason to start a position.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard Trading Down

Activision Blizzard Trading Down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Right now, like many individual investors, I am thinking about the coming year on Wall Street. What moves should I make? What stocks should I look at? Specifically: How should I position my portfolio?

One company I am almost certain to get rid of is Activision Blizzard (ATVI). I reserve the right to change my mind on this, but data on the video game industry point to a deterioration in the fundamentals. Many headlines throughout the year have trumpeted the fact that the console cycle is aging, and that demand for high-end systems has been satiated.

Continue reading Sell Activision Blizzard in the New Year?

Sell Activision Blizzard in the New Year? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"As a conservative long-term oriented investor I tend to keep individual position sizes to no more than 5% of the overall portfolio; however in the case of Activision Blizzard (ATVI), I'm building a more concentrated position that I expect to pay off in the next two to three years," says Asif Suria.

In his The SINLetter advisory, he offers 10 reasons why he believes the stock is an attractive core long-term investment. He explains, "My goal is to eventually build this position until it represents 20% of my personal portfolio. Here are 10 reasons behind this decision.

1) Activision released the highly anticipated game Call of Duty: Modern Warefare 2 and racked up $310 million in sales from the United States and United Kingdom over a 24 hour period. With Christmas right around the corner, the final sales numbers for this edition of Call of Duty are going to be much bigger.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard (ATVI): 10 reasons to buy

Activision Blizzard (ATVI): 10 reasons to buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), a video-game publisher that competes with Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), issued Q1 stats after the bell on Tuesday. Things are looking up for the company famous for its Madden brand of football software. Adjusted revenues increased over 30%, and the loss on the bottom line narrowed to 2 cents per share from a loss of 42 cents per share in the year-ago period.

The profit performance beat Wall Street's expectations, as Alex Salkever reports over at DailyFinance. You can check out his article to get the highlights of the quarter and a perspective on the current state of the video-game industry, which includes console makers Sony (NYSE: SNE), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY).

Continue reading Electronic Arts reduces red ink in Q1; should I be bullish on the stock?

Electronic Arts reduces red ink in Q1; should I be bullish on the stock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: It ain't just financial stocks (UPS, FDX, ATVI, GE, GOOG, MCD)

Closing Bell: It ain't just financial stocks (UPS, FDX, ATVI, GE, GOOG, MCD) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), a video-game publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), reported some cool first-quarter numbers on Thursday after the bell. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 8 cents per share. According to analysts, Activision Blizzard was only supposed to do around 5 cents per share.

Not only was the bottom line solid, but revenues on an adjusted basis also came in ahead of expectations. And you can thank the usual suspects for powering up the quarter. You've got Call of Duty. You've got Guitar Hero. You've got World of Warcraft. These best-of-breed franchises are selling a lot of copies on Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360, and Nintendo's (OTC: NTDOY) Wii.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard beats in Q1 -- is it still a strong investment idea?

Activision Blizzard beats in Q1 -- is it still a strong investment idea? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boy, I'll tell you, owning Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) has been tough lately. I love the company's prospects. It's got great franchises: Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft. It's doing better than rivals Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and THQ (NASDAQ: THQI). But the stock has been hitting a lot of technical resistance. Not only that, but CEO Bobby Kotick recently sold a bunch of shares (over a million, actually).

Well, in terms of that insider sale, we can all relax. Basically, Kotick was exercising options that were set to expire relatively soon, says Barron's. That accounted for one million shares. Now, he did also sell over 240,000 shares that were stored in a trust. The mitigating factor here is that Kotick operates under restrictions as to when he can and cannot sell stock. So, in an overall sense, we can give him a pass on this one. Silicon Alley Insider supports this sentiment, and talks about another insider's sale in similar terms.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard: Great company, but is it heading lower short-term?

Activision Blizzard: Great company, but is it heading lower short-term? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), a video-game publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Wednesday after the bell. The company did well during the holiday-selling season, in my opinion. According to this source, adjusted quarterly earnings of 31 cents per share beat estimates by two pennies. Non-GAAP sales of $2.3 billion also beat analyst expectations.

However, the market decided to sell the stock in the after-hours session after the earnings were released because of what was perceived to be a poor outlook for the next fiscal year (as I was writing this piece, the shares were off by about 4%). Analysts were hoping that 2009 would bring 67 cents per share on an adjusted basis, but Activision Blizzard's management team thinks 61 cents per share is more likely.

Continue reading Activision Blizzard beats during holiday quarter, where does stock go from here?

Activision Blizzard beats during holiday quarter, where does stock go from here? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm still bullish on Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), which competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), among others. For now. I qualify my stance because, I have to admit, my confidence has been shaken. Although I recently wrote a positive piece about the publisher's prospects, there's some word that the company's two major franchises may not have sold as well as expected during the holidays.

Two analysts have cut their price targets on the company's stock, and the stock has hit technical trouble. Indeed, if you own shares of Activision Blizzard, you've noticed the recent deterioration in the stock's momentum. The problem is that sales of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty may have been affected by the bad economy. Although they undoubtedly sold very well, they may not have rocked enough to justify the company's multiple. Now, the business is certainly a great longer-term play (at least until the current video-game cycle starts to wane), and the World of Warcraft online asset should be an incredible growth driver going forward, but on the short term, I have to say that traders need to be cautious. I see a bit more downside to the stock before it possibly recovers, which, at this time, I think it will.

Continue reading Is Activision Blizzard a sell?

Is Activision Blizzard a sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Activision closed on its transaction with Vivendi Games Thursday and officially became Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVID), according to an article at SmartMoney.com. And I am pretty excited at the prospects for the new business (I am a shareholder). It's going to be a tough competitor against Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO). (Of course, the latter two might merge at some point.)

Activision is riding high with its Guitar Hero franchise, and Vivendi Games brings an incredible asset to the table in the form of online gaming sensation World of Warcraft. I can't say I know much about World of Warcraft the game itself, but I know it has a huge following. What else do I need to know, right? For 2009, management at Activision Blizzard expects pro-forma operating income of over $1 billion and perhaps $1.20 or more in terms of earnings per share. That puts the stock, which rose over 5% on Thursday and closed with a price of $31.77 per share, with a P/E ratio a little over 26. That isn't too bad a valuation considering the growth potential. And when the holiday season comes around, I'm sure people will still be buying the publisher's software for gifts, recession or not. Whether it's the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3, the Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360, or the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii, gamers will be buying the company's products for these platforms in droves.

The stock has retreated from the highs it reached back in June when I wrote about it, but I am still bullish on the thesis here. Activision Blizzard should do really well, but with the markets in turmoil, you can probably wait for a pullback before buying.

Disclosure: I own Activision Blizzard; positions can change at any time.

Activision Blizzard set to rock the market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

eBay to sellers: You don't 'own' virtual property originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.