Activision Blizzard Inc. Beats Q3 Views; Raises Full-Year Outlook

Activision Blizzard Inc.

beat expectations Tuesday for its third-quarter earnings and revenue performance, citing its newly launched Destiny video game product as well as strong sales of existing products. The Santa Monica, Calif. game company raised its full-year outlook but offered a fourth-quarter estimate below expectations. Activision gained 2 percent recently in the extended session to $20.32 a share. The company swung to a third-quarter net loss of $23 million, or $0.3 cents a share, from year-earlier profits of $56 million, or $0.05 cents a share. Revenue grew to $753 million, from $691 million last year. But adjusted earnings equaled $0.23 cents a share on adjusted revenue of $1.17 billion. Wall Street expected adjusted profit of $0.13 cents a share, with adjusted revenue of $1.01 billion. For the fourth quarter, the company forecast adjusted earnings of $0.86 cents a share on adjusted revenue of $2.2 billion, versus Wall Street's expectation of $0.94 cents a share on revenue of $2.34 billion. For 2014, Activision forecast adjusted earnings of $1.35 cents a share on revenue of $4.33 billion. Analysts expect $1.33 a share on $4.75 billion.