What happened
Actions of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) rose 9.6% on Friday after the video game maker posted fourth quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.
And
Activision Blizzard’s net reserves – essentially, the dollar value of products and services it sold during the quarter – increased almost 13% to $ 3.05 billion. This was well above analysts’ estimates, which required reserves of $ 2.79 billion.
Activision Blizzard’s stock exploded on Friday. Image source: Getty Images.
The gains were fueled by strong sales from Activision Blizzard’s top franchises, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and candy Crush. Many of the company’s games are seeing greater player involvement during the COVID-19 crisis, as people spend more time at home.
“In a year fraught with adversity, our extraordinary employees were determined to provide connection and joy to our 400 million players worldwide,” said CEO Bobby Kotick in a press release. “They achieved this and also generated record financial results for our shareholders.”
What now
Several analysts have increased their price targets for Activision Blizzard’s shares after their excellent performance in the fourth quarter. Alexia Quadrani, an analyst at JPMorgan, sees the game maker’s shares reaching $ 115 with Activision Blizzard advances its strategy of marrying its most popular PC and console franchises with new mobile formats.