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Activision Blizzard Announces 4Q, Calendar Year 2011 Earnings

[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Financial Highlights

  • CY 2011 EPS grows by more than 17% establishing new company record
  • GAAP operating margins of 28%
  • Nearly $1 billion in operating cash flow
  • $1 billion stock repurchase program
  • 9% increase in cash dividend to 18 cents per share
  • Expects 2012 GAAP EPS of 63 cents

 

Other Highlights

  • Digital revenues of $1.6 billion accounted for more than 34% of total revenues in 2011
  • Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft Remains #1 Subscription-based MMORPG with Approximately 10.2 Million Subscribers as of 12/31/11
  • For the calendar year, in aggregate across all platforms in the U.S. and Europe, Activision Publishing’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the #1 best-selling title in dollars, and Call of Duty: Black Ops was the #5 best-selling title in dollars.
  • In November 2011, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 became the first video game ever to surpass $775 million in retail sales in its first five days of release and the only entertainment property to cross the $1 billion mark in 16-days, eclipsing  Avatar’s 17-day record.
  • As of January 31, 2012, more than seven million gamers have registered for Call of Duty Elite, including more than 1.5 million premium annual memberships the company has sold for the online service.
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players logged more than 639 million hours of online gameplay through December 31, 2011.
  • Total unique online gamers playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 were more than 12% greater than the total unique online gamers who played Call of Duty: Black Ops during the first two months after each game’s release.
  • In North America and Europe, including accessory packs and figures, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure was the #8 best-selling game in dollars for the fourth quarter of 2011 and #1 selling kids’ title in dollars in the calendar year. Additionally, in North America, including accessory packs and figures, Skylanders  Spyro’s Adventure was the #10 best-selling title in dollars.
  • For the calendar year, Blizzard Entertainment had two top-10 PC games in North America and Europe with StarCraft  II: Wings of Liberty and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
  • Activision Blizzard purchased an aggregate of 61 million shares of its common stock for approximately $692 million in 2011.

 

 

For calendar year 2011, Activision Blizzard’s GAAP net revenues were $4.76 billion, as compared with $4.45 billion for 2010.  The company delivered record calendar year net revenues from digital channels, accounting for a record of more than 34% of the company’s total net revenues. For calendar year 2011, Activision Blizzard’s earnings per diluted share increased to 92 cents, as compared with 33 cents per diluted share for 2010.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2011, the company delivered net revenues of $1.41 billion, as compared with $1.43 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010.   For the quarter ended December 31, 2011, Activision Blizzard’s earnings per diluted share were 8 cents, as compared with a loss per share of 20 cents for the fourth quarter of 2010.

Bobby Kotick (Chief executive officer, Activision Blizzard):  With better than expected net revenues, record earnings, record operating margins, and having generated nearly $1 billion in operating cash flow, Activision Blizzard continues to set the industry success bar.”

 

Company Outlook: In March 2012, Activision Publishing expects to release the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection, a compilation of content previously released to Call of Duty Elite premium members, on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

The company’s first quarter 2012 outlook does not incorporate a new release from Blizzard Entertainment, but its calendar year 2012 outlook anticipates two releases from Blizzard Entertainment.   In addition, the company’s full year revenue outlook is expected to be impacted by a reduction of about $130 million in revenues from the company’s lower margin distribution and affiliate title businesses and a negative year-over-year foreign exchange planning assumption of approximately $200 million.

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