Stock Alert: Activision Blizzard Rises 6%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (ATVI) are gaining almost 6 percent or $3.95 in Wednesday's morning trade at $72.48, after the video game producer reported an increase in profit for the first quarter and raised its full-year outlook. The stock has traded in a range of $41.84 to $74.79 in the past 52 weeks.

Tuesday, Activision Blizzard said its first-quarter net income rose to $505 million or $0.65 per share from $447 million or $0.58 per share in the year-ago period.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.76 per share, compared to $0.66 per share in the year-ago period. Revenue for the quarter declined 2.2 percent to $1.79 billion from $1.83 billion last year.

Looking ahead, Activision Blizzard raised its outlook for fiscal 2020 net revenues and earnings per share. For the full year, the company now expects revenues of $6.80 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.62 per share.

The company's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.41 per common share, payable on May 6, 2020 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 15, 2020, which represents an 11 percent increase from 2019.