Activision Blizzard Q2 Profit Tops View

(RTTNews) - Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) on Thursday reported a drop in profit for the second quarter, hurt by charges related to acquisition of King Digital Entertainment. Nevertheless, the video game publisher's profit and revenues trumped Wall Street estimates.

Santa Monica, California-based Activision's second-quarter profit dropped to $127 million or $0.17 per share from $212 million or $0.29 per share a year ago.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter rose to $0.45 per share from $0.31 per share last year. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.42 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Activision, developers of the popular "Call of Duty" and "Warcraft" franchises, said second-quarter revenues rose to $1.57 billion from $1.04 billion last year. Adjusted revenues increased to $1.61 billion from $749 million. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.46 billion.

The company has started expanding its business from console-based gaming to games for mobile devices. In February, Activision completed the $5.9 billion acquisition of King Digital, the maker of "Candy Crush Saga." However, King's monthly active users declined to 409 million due to "seasonal trends," the company said.

Looking forward to the third quarter, Activision expects adjusted earnings of $0.39 per share and adjusted revenue of $1.49 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.36 per share and revenues of $1.51 billion.

For the full year, the company now expects adjusted earnings of $1.83 per share and adjusted revenues of $6.40 billion. Wall Street currently expects full-year adjusted revenue of $6.38 billion and earnings of $1.88 per share.

ATVI closed Thursday's trading at $40.78, up $0.40 or 0.99%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further gained $0.57 or 1.40% in the after-hours trade.