Video Game Industry To Report Material Upside To December Quarter, Piper Jaffray Reports

Piper Jaffray expects video game publishers and retailers will report material upside to December quarter sales and earnings relative to consensus. “Management teams took advantage of modest investor expectations and provided exceptionally low guidance for the holiday quarter, in our opinion,” Piper Jaffray writes. “We remain materially above guidance & consensus across the board - as such game stocks can be owned for the next 1-3 months.” Piper Jaffray is projecting sales of CPG video game software will grow 3%-4% Y/Y for Nov-Dec., and estimates sales of digital games grew near 20%-25% Y/Y for Nov.-Dec. The following companies were mentioned in the report: Activision Blizzard, Inc ATVI; closed Wednesday at $12.54. Electronic Arts Inc. ERTS; closed Wednesday at $15.98 GameStop Corporation GME; closed Wednesday at $21.70 THQ Inc. THQI; closed Wednesday at $6.17 Take-Two Interactive Software TTWO; closed Wednesday at $12.57