Activision Predict Strong Holiday Sales and Shares Jump

Activision Blizzard Inc has raised their full-year 2014 forecast, citing better-than-expected second quarter results and expectations of strong sales for upcoming titles like “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” and “Destiny.”

The California-based company said robust digital sales of its “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” game franchises drove non-GAAP net revenue up to $658 million in the second quarter from $608 million a year earlier. It beat the $608 million expected by analysts.

Shares of Activision jumped 3 percent in after-hours trading after closing at $22.36 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

“Digital revenue represented 73 percent of the total for the quarter and that’s a record for us,” Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in an interview. “We had over-performance in the quarter and we feel very enthusiastic about the products we are releasing for the back-half of the year. ‘Advanced Warfare,’ the new ‘Call of Duty,’ I would say that will be the most successful game of 2014.”

Activision raised its 2014 non-GAAP revenue forecast to $4.7 billion and said it expects non-GAAP earnings of $1.29 per share. It had previously announced a forecast of $4.67 billion in non-GAAP revenue and $1.27 per share of non-GAAP income.

The holiday line-up from Activision includes “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare”, the new instalment from the franchise and “Skylanders Trap Team” from its billion-dollar game franchise for children.

On September 9, the new sci-fi shooter “Destiny” will be released, which has seen a whooping $500 million investment from the company. Gamers are responding well to the beta version of “Destiny” and pre-order numbers are encouraging, Kotick said without providing details. “The audience reaction on ‘Destiny’ has been extraordinary.”

Thank you Reuters for providing us with this information

Images courtesy of Activision