Zynga Forecasts Even Poorer Second Quarter Earnings and Revenue

On a GAAP basis, Zynga reported a break-even quarter for earnings.

The company forecast second quarter revenues in the range of $225 to $235 million, below the consensus estimate of $236.1 million. Zynga also forecast an adjusted EPS loss of $0.03 to $0.04 ($0.03 to $0.05 loss on a GAAP basis) and bookings of $180 to $190 million. The consensus estimate calls for an EPS loss of $0.01. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 0% to 10%.

One can imagine a worse quarter for Zynga, but not a much worse forecast and the stock is getting beaten up in after-hours trading tonight.

The company’s CEO said:

2013 will continue to be a transition year as we face the challenging environment on the web and invest in developing the leading franchises and network across web and mobile platforms and offer our 253 million monthly players a connected experience that can follow them from work to school to home and anywhere in between.

Zynga posted a huge revenue increase in the fourth quarter, which analysts discounted when they forecast first quarter revenues at more than $100 million less than last quarter’s take. But Zynga still can’t seem to prove that it can make a reasonable profit. In the first quarter, active users declined by nearly 40 million since first quarter of last year. Every metric the company mentioned was lower this year. And the forecast really is a call for more (and worse) of the same.

Shares are down nearly 10% in after-hours trading, at $3.02 in a 52-week range of $2.09 to $9.54. Shares closed at $3.35 today. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $3.80 before today’s report.