Activision Blizzard (ATVI) Misses Q4 EPS by 38c, Issue Mixed Outlook

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.90, $0.38 worse than the analyst estimate of $1.28. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.38 billion versus the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion.

Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard said “While our financial results for 2018 were the best in our history, we didn’t realize our full potential. To help us reach our full potential, we have made a number of important leadership changes. These changes should enable us to achieve the many opportunities our industry affords us, especially with our powerful owned franchises, our strong commercial capabilities, our direct digital connections to hundreds of millions of players, and our extraordinarily talented employees.”

GUIDANCE:

Activision Blizzard sees Q1 2019 EPS of $0.63, versus the consensus of $0.46. Activision Blizzard sees Q1 2019 revenue of $1.715 billion, versus the consensus of $1.46 billion.

Activision Blizzard sees FY2019 EPS of $1.85, versus the consensus of $2.58. Activision Blizzard sees FY2019 revenue of $6.025 billion, versus the consensus of $7.3 billion.

Activision declared an annual dividend of $0.37 per share, or $0.37 annualized. This is an 8.8% increase from the prior dividend of $0.34. Additionally, the Board of Directors authorized a new two-year stock repurchase program under which the company is authorized to repurchase up to $1.5 billion of its outstanding common stock during the period.

LAYOFFS:

On its conference call, the company announced a 8% headcount reduction.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Activision Blizzard (ATVI) click here.

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