King Digital Shares Tumble After Q1 Results

Shares of King Digital Entertainment PLC KING dipped more than 9 percent in after-hours trading, despite the company reporting stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter. The Dublin, Ireland-based company posted quarterly earnings of $164.1 million, or $0.51 per share, compared to $127.2 million, or $0.41 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding items, its adjusted earnings came in at $0.61 per share. Its revenue fell to $569 million from $606 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.53 per share on revenue of $563.42 million. The average estimate among 21 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.57 per share and revenue of $598.87 million. Gross bookings dropped 6 percent year-over-year to $604 million in the quarter. Mobile gross bookings rose 2 percent year-over-year to $491 million. First quarter adjusted EBITDA came in at $250 million. MAUs rose 14 percent year-over-year to 550 million in first quarter, while DAUs rose 10 percent year-over-year to 158 million in first quarter. The company had $661 million in cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2015. King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said, "Our first quarter 2015 results demonstrate the continued strength of our franchises, with Candy Crush Saga, Candy Crush Soda Saga and Farm Heroes Saga remaining top 10 grossing games in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the U.S. We are pleased by the sustained popularity of our games which is also reflected in our second consecutive quarter of company-high network reach metrics and we look forward to leveraging the extraordinary power of our massive player base in launching new innovative games in 2015 and beyond." The "Candy Crush Saga" maker said the mid-year period will be "seasonally softer" because of foreign currency woes. For the second quarter, King Digital expects gross bookings of $490 million to $520 million. King Digital shares dipped 9.61 percent to $13.55 in the after-hours trading session.