Activision-Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) has posted its Q4 report amid mixed reactions from experts. The report has warranted both bullish and bearish analysis for the company's future.
Activision-Blizzard's results weren't all too positive at first glance. The company's performance over the last few quarters leading up to Q4 2019 wasn't that great; adjusted earnings per share were down 4.65% compared to last year, while revenue was down 4.58, and operating income was down a considerable 34.58%. In terms of year-over-year, Activision-Blizzard's earnings dropped by 4%, and overall sales dropped 5%. Despite the mixed results, Activision-Blizzard did, however, beat Wall Street's expectations. Earnings-per-share was $1.95 according to the report, 25% above analyst expectations. While the company's performance overall is still down from 2018, the decline seems to have at least been slowed somewhat, which is enough of a relief to Investors to drive up Activision-Blizzard's stock on the release of the earnings report.
Looking to the past, there was a great reason for concern regarding Activision-Blizzard's performance. The company found itself marred by controversy late into 2019, primarily regarding its stance towards China and the negative press that marred the company. In October, the company found itself facing immense blowback for actions taken against Hearthstone competitor Ng Wai Chung, a Hong-Kongese competitive Hearthstone player who was hit with stiff punishment for a political statement made during a post-game stream. The blowback was immense, with Activision-Blizzard, primarily the Blizzard half of the company, facing the critical press. When looking at charts for the month of October, the days after the controversy began saw a drop in Activision-Blizzard's share price from $55.41 to $53.43, though it quickly rebounded shortly after that. Whether or not this can be attributed to the controversy is hard to say for certain, though if it was, it was not a significant loss for the company, as previous one-day drops in share price had gone deeper. If the earnings report is any indication, the months-long controversy had no noticeable effect at all.
Looking forward, analyst forecasts are just about as mixed as Activision-Blizzard's earnings report. Analysts seem to believe that revenue for Activision-Blizzard will reach $6.77 Billion in 2020, which is a healthy 4.4% boost over the last 12 months, though at the same time EPS looks to drop during 2020.
As for stock price targets, there seems to be no major change from the previous consensus; some analysts have set more bullish targets, while others have a more bearish stance towards the company. What can be inferred from these forecasts is that analysts seem to predict much of the same for Activision-Blizzard, with no substantial movement in either direction in terms of success or failure for 2020.
There are factors in play that may potentially affect forecasts and performance in the future, however. The upcoming release of Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox Series X will inevitably draw more traffic back to the gaming industry. At the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Activision-Blizzard, along with their contemporaries, saw a spike in sales as consumers flocked to the new consoles and purchased the newest releases.
With the impending 2020 release of the gaming industry's juggernaut gaming console families' newest installments, Activision-Blizzard may likely see an uptick in sales, something that has been reflected in long-term forecasts going past 2020.