Why Analysts Are Chasing Activision Blizzard Even Higher

Media

Published: May 7, 2016 12:29 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 9:44 am

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported its most recent quarterly results after the markets closed on Thursday. The company blew away its results, as it has done many times before, and now analysts are chasing this stock even higher.

24/7 Wall St. has included some highlights from the earnings report, as well as what analysts are saying about Activision Blizzard after the report.

The company reported $0.23 in earnings per share (EPS) on $908 million in revenue, which compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.12 in EPS on revenue of $812.12 million. In the same period of last year, the company posted EPS of $0.16 and $703.00 million in revenue.

The company had the biggest first quarter in terms of its online player community in its history, with monthly active users (MAUs) of 544 million. Activision also continues to have four of the top 10 games on next-gen consoles, and its King segment had three of the top 15 grossing titles in the U.S. mobile app stores for the ninth quarter in a row.

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In terms of MAUs, the segments broke down like so:

Activision had 55 million, up 10 from last year.
Blizzard had 26 million, up 23%.
King had 463 million, up 3%, quarter over quarter.

The company gave its outlook for the second quarter in the report as well. Activision Blizzard expects to see $0.38 in EPS and revenues of $1.375 billion. The consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.33 and $1.33 billion in revenue.

A few analysts weighed in on Activision Blizzard after the earnings were reported:

Baird has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $42 from $38.
Barclays has an Overweight rating and raised its price target to $38 from $35.
Benchmark has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $40.
Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and raised its price target from $41 to $43.
Mizuho Securities has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $42 from $35.
MKM raised its price target to $40 from $38.
Pacific Crest raised its price target to $41 from $36.
Wedbush has an Outperform rating and raised its price target from $40 to $43.

Shares of Activision Blizzard closed trading up more than 8% at $37.87 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $38.43 and a 52-week trading range of $24.04 to $39.93.

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