News in the early morning of November 3, Beijing time, according to reports, Activision Blizzard today announced its third quarter financial report for the 2021 fiscal year. According to the report, Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net revenue was US$2.070 billion, higher than the company’s previous forecast of US$1.970 billion, and also higher than the US$1.954 billion in the same period last year; net scheduled revenue was US$1.88 billion. It was US$1.77 billion in the same period last year; net profit was US$639 million, an increase of 6% compared with the US$604 million in the same period last year.
Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net booked revenue was in line with Wall Street analysts’ expectations, and adjusted earnings per share exceeded expectations, but its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter and the full year failed to meet expectations, causing its after-market share price to drop by more than 10% .
Performance summary:
In the quarter ended September 30, Activision Blizzard’s net profit was US$639 million and diluted earnings per share was US$0.82, which was better than the same period last year. In the third quarter of fiscal 2020, Activision Blizzard’s net profit was US$604 million and diluted earnings per share was US$0.78. Activision Blizzard had previously expected earnings per share in the third quarter to reach $0.64.
Excluding certain one-off items (not in accordance with US GAAP), Activision Blizzard’s adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter was US$0.89, which was higher than the company’s previous forecast of US$0.75, compared to the adjusted earnings in the same period last year. Earnings per share were US$0.88, which exceeded analyst expectations. According to data provided by the Yahoo Finance Channel, 26 analysts had previously expected Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter earnings per share to reach $0.7.
Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net revenue was US$2.070 billion, higher than the company’s previous forecast of US$1.970 billion and higher than the US$1.954 billion in the same period last year.
By business sector, Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net revenue from product sales was US$423 million, compared with US$408 million in the same period last year; revenue from in-game, subscription and other businesses was 16.47 Billion US dollars, compared with 1.546 billion US dollars in the same period last year.
Divided by distribution channels, Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net revenue from digital online channels was US$1.852 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6%, accounting for 89% of total net revenue, compared to the same period last year from Net revenue from digital online channels was US$1.753 billion, accounting for 90% of total net revenue; net revenue from retail channels was US$69 million, a year-on-year decrease of 41%, in total net revenue The proportion is 3%, compared with the net revenue from retail channels of 117 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year, which accounted for 6% of the total net revenue; the net revenue from other channels was 149 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 77% year-on-year, accounting for 7% of total net revenue, compared with net revenue from other channels of US$84 million in the same period last year, accounting for 4% of total net revenue %.
By platform, Activision Blizzard’s net revenue from gaming consoles in the third quarter was US$523 million, a year-on-year decrease of 25%, and it accounted for 25% of total net revenue, compared with games from the same period last year. The net revenue of the computer was US$695 million, accounting for 36% of the total net revenue; the net revenue from PC was US$578 million, an increase of 12% year-on-year, and the proportion of the total net revenue was 28%. %, compared to last year’s net revenue from PC was US$514 million, accounting for 26% of total net revenue; net revenue from mobile and affiliated platforms was US$820 million, a year-on-year increase 24%, accounting for 40% of total net revenue, compared with net revenue from mobile and affiliated platforms of US$661 million in the same period last year, accounting for 34% of total net revenue; Net revenue from other platforms was US$149 million, an increase of 77% year-on-year, accounting for 7% of total net revenue, compared to US$84 million in net revenue from other platforms in the same period last year. The proportion of total net revenue is 4%.
Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net booking revenue (Net Bookings, excluding the effect of deferred revenue is equal to net revenue) was US$18.8, higher than the US$1.77 billion in the same period last year, in line with analyst expectations. According to data provided by the Yahoo Finance Channel, 24 analysts had previously expected on average that Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter net book revenue would reach 1.88 billion U.S. dollars.
Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter operating profit was US$824 million, compared with US$778 million in the same period last year; operating profit margin was 40%. Excluding certain one-time items (not in accordance with US GAAP), Activision Blizzard’s adjusted operating profit margin for the third quarter was 43%.
Other financial information:
Activision Blizzard’s third-quarter operating cash flow was US$521 million, compared with US$196 million in the same period last year. In the past 12 months ending September 30, 2021, Activision Blizzard’s operating cash flow was $2.89 billion.
Activision Blizzard’s total costs and expenditures in the third quarter were US$1.246 billion, compared with US$1.176 billion in the same period last year. Among them, product development expenditure was 329 million U.S. dollars, compared with 274 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year; sales and marketing expenditures were 244 million U.S. dollars, compared with 238 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year; general affairs and administrative expenses were 143 million U.S. dollars. This compares to US$186 million in the same period last year; restructuring and related expenses are US$3 million, compared to US$9 million in the same period last year.
In the third quarter, overall Activision Blizzard’s monthly active users (MAU) were 390 million.
Performance Outlook:
Activision Blizzard predicts that in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, the company’s net revenue will reach US$2.020 billion; earnings per share will reach US$0.54, and earnings per share will reach US$0.62 after adjustments not in accordance with US GAAP, which is less than expected . According to data provided by the Yahoo Finance Channel, 24 analysts had previously expected Activision Blizzard’s fourth-quarter net book revenue to reach 2.93 billion U.S. dollars, and 26 analysts had previously expected Activision Blizzard’s adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter. Up to $1.39.
Activision Blizzard also predicts that the company’s net revenue will reach US$8.66 billion in fiscal 2021; earnings per share will reach US$3.27, and earnings per share will reach US$3.70 after adjustments not in accordance with US GAAP, which is not as good as expected. According to data provided by the Yahoo Finance Channel, 31 analysts had previously expected Activision Blizzard’s 2021 fiscal year’s net book revenue to reach 8.8 billion U.S. dollars, and 28 analysts had previously expected Activision Blizzard’s adjusted earnings per share in 2021 fiscal year Up to 3.83 US dollars.
Stock price changes:
On the same day, Activision Blizzard’s stock price fell 1.68 US dollars in regular trading to close at 77.67 US dollars, a decline of 2.12%. In the subsequent after-hours trading at 5:35 pm EST on Tuesday (5:35 am Beijing time on Wednesday), Activision Blizzard’s share price fell again by 7.92 US dollars to 69.75 US dollars, a decrease of 10.20%. In the past 52 weeks, Activision Blizzard’s highest price was US$104.53 and the lowest price was US$71.19.