Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) is one of the largest video game publishers in the world. Shares of Activision Blizzard have plunged 26% over the past month as of close on November 28. It has been a quiet year for the Blizzard division, which has released a World of Warcraft expansion in addition to updates on other titles. Activision, on the other hand, released the hit Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which has been a massive driver of growth in recent years. The game reported $500 million in worldwide sales in the first three days of launch.
World of Warcraft: Battle of Azeroth is also expected to boost growth in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter the company reported GAAP net revenues of $1.51 billion compared to $1.62 billion in the prior year. GAAP earnings per share did climb to $0.34 over $0.25 in Q3 2017. Net bookings also declined from $1.90 billion to $1.66 billion.
Activision Blizzard is projecting $2.2 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and GAAP EPS of $0.43. The holiday season is typically good for publishers, but is the stock a buy-low opportunity right now?
After yesterday’s close Activision Blizzard stock posted an RSI of 30, just above what is technically considered “oversold”. Shares just recently broke out of this buy signal, but that does not mean investors do not have time to pile in. In 2019, World of Warcraft Classic will be made available as part of the WOW franchise subscription. This should bolster monthly active user numbers for next year, which has been a weak point in 2018.
