Activision Employees, Shareholders, Sony Demand CEO Resignation

  • Sony Group Corp's SONY PlayStation unit sought an explanation from Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI CEO over its handling of sexual misconduct issues, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reached out to Activision "to express our deep concern" about the WSJ article and that "we do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation." 
  • Sony was Activision's largest customer in 2020, accounting for 17% of revenue.
  • In 2019 and 2018, Sony was its third-largest customer behind Apple Inc AAPL and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google.
  • Sony's remarks follow analysts' scaling back of their outlooks for Activision, citing the potential for CEO Bobby Kotick to step down and a possible talent exodus. 
  • Benchmark Co lowered its price target to $86 from $115, while R.W. Baird & Co. moved its target to $74 from $82.
  • Over 100 current and former Activision employees demonstrated outside the company's campus to demand Kotick's resignation. Some remote staffers also stopped work in protest.
  • A shareholders group with a less-than 1% stake in Activision also demanded Kotick's resignation. They urged Activision Chairman Brian Kelly Robert J. Morgado to step down by year's end.
  • Related Content: WSJ Says Activision Blizzard CEO Feigned Ignorance About Employee Sexual Misconduct For Several Years
  • Price Action: ATVI shares traded lower by 0.47% at $63.90 in the premarket session on the last check Thursday.
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