Take-Two Q2 Loss Narrows, Lifts FY Outlook - Update

(RTTNews) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) on Wednesday reported a loss for the second quarter that narrowed from a year ago, helped mainly by lower operating costs, and less than Wall Street estimates.

Moving ahead, Take-Two lifted its financial outlook for the full year, as the video game publisher remains optimistic about the holiday season with recent title launches.

New York-based Take-Two reported a second-quarter loss of $41.4 million or $0.51 per share compared to last year's loss of $124 million or $1.40 per share.

Excluding one-time items, adjusted loss for the quarter was $0.44 per share compared to a profit of $2.49 per share a year ago. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated a loss of $0.59 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the second quarter dropped to 126.3 million from $148.8 million last year.

Adjusted revenues, which exclude effects of change in deferred revenues, dropped sharply to $135.4 million from $1.27 billion a year ago, which benefited from the blockbuster success of crime game "Grand Theft Auto V." Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $110.9 million.

Second-quarter expenses dropped to $122.8 million from $174.3 million last year.

Looking forward to the third quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $1.35 to $1.45 per share on revenues of $745 million to $760 million. Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.21 per share on revenues of $778.6 million for the period.

For the full year, Take Two now expects adjusted earnings of $1.05 to $1.30 per share on revenues of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $1.05 per share on revenues of $1.44 billion for the year.

Earlier, the company expected adjusted earnings of $0.80 to $1.05 per share on revenues of $1.35 billion to $1.45 billion.

"With the successful launches of NBA 2K15, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth and WWE 2K15, our third quarter and holiday season is off to a great start, and there is tremendous anticipation for our upcoming releases, including Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC," said CEO Strauss Zelnick.

Take-Two has not been able to monetize on the demand for games compatible with the next generation consoles, Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, as it has only released few games for those consoles.

Meanwhile, Electronic Arts, Take-Two's peer, has been tapping in on the demand for games compatible with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 that was launched last fall. Electronic Arts claims to be the number one publisher of games on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the western world, driven by strong titles like FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15, Titanfall, Battlefield 4, and EA Sports UFC.

Electronic Arts, yesterday, had reported a Wall Street trumping profit and revenues for the second quarter, reflecting continued strong demand for titles compatible with the new-gen consoles. The video-game publisher had also lifted its full-year 2015 outlook.

TTWO is currently trading at $22.80, down $0.31 or 1.34%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $0.95 or 4.17% in the after-hours trade.