Earnings Vindication for King Digital, and for Its Analysts

King Digital Entertainment PLC (NYSE: KING) released first-quarter 2014 results before markets opened on Wednesday. The mobile game maker posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.61 on revenues of $606.7 million. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.20 on revenues of $205.9 million. This is King Digital’s first earnings reports since its late March initial public offering, and no analyst consensus was available.

That does not mean that analysts have ignored the maker of Candy Crush Saga, which closed its first day of trading down 15.5% from its IPO price of $22.50, and looked like a poor bet going forward. But just on Monday some nine firms issued ratings and price targets, with only one Neutral rating and no Sell ratings. The lowest price target was $19 and the highest was $30.

The company said that 75% of its first-quarter gross bookings were derived from its mobile audience, and gross bookings were up 193% year-over-year. King Digital said that the increase in gross bookings and in revenue was primarily due to the launch of its Farm Heroes Saga game in January. Candy Crush Saga, meanwhile, accounted for 67% of gross bookings in the quarter, down from 78% in the prior quarter.

One of the big questions about the company is whether it could produce a follow-on to the enormously popular Candy Crush Saga. The jury may still be out on that, but the preliminary reading is certainly positive.

The company’s CEO said:

Our existing titles are performing well, and with the strong performance of Farm Heroes Saga following its January mobile launch, we had three games in the top 10 grossing games list on all major platforms for the first quarter. With the massive reach of our player network, our existing portfolio of highly engaging games, and our development plan for additional games well underway, we are well-positioned for gross bookings growth and diversification in 2014.

The company did not provide further guidance in its press release, but that may come during the conference call.

King Digital’s shares closed at $18.76 last night, and rose about 0.9% in premarket trading Tuesday morning to $18.92. The stock’s post-IPO range is $15.84 to $21.39.

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