Gaming Activision Blizzard Is Expected To Show It Won The 2020 Game

As the market is getting ready for Gaming Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI to report earnings on Thursday after market close, investors are getting even more excited as the video game developer enjoyed soaring demand for its products through most of 2020. Despite social distancing measures easing, Activision still managed to keep its massive userbase engaged through September.

Expectations Are High

For its third-quarter results, revenue of $1.95 billion easily exceeded the $1.8 billion predictions and Wall Street is betting that the gaming company will beat its own predictions once again. Analysts expect sales of $2.8 billion compared to the $2.7 billion that management had forecasted in late October with adjusted earnings of $0.90 per share.

Monetization Efforts

Activision has been relying more on free-to-play games, but investors are still hoping to see significant earnings growth for the holiday quarter. To boost its audience and engagement, Call of Duty needed to do well and new records are expected as Black Ops Cold War was introduced in November to the largest base of CoD gamers yet. The Call of Duty generates profits through micro-transactions and by increasing demand for the premium gaming content within the franchise whereas Candy Crush is supported by ads.

Trouble On The Horizon?

The only cloud in Activision's skies is its rejection of "Rooney Rule" in their hiring practices that aim to improve gender and racial diversity in the gaming industry as management found it to be "an unworkable encroachment" on the company's ability to attract talent in a highly competitive market. As much as it resists this hiring push by claiming it aims to ‘micromanage' the company to a significant degree, the fact is that for years reports have shown that women and people of color face systematic discrimination in the gaming industry and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Outlook

As far as 2021 is concerned, besides the outlook, management needs to address the upcoming challenges and difficulties of duplicating pandemic/lockdown-boosted results.  Wall Street is predicting that sales will barely rise this year compared to 2020's expected 28% surge.

The CEO Bobby Kotick and his team will reveal on Thursday whether the positive momentum held up through the switch to the next generation of consoles in the last months of the year, and whether Activision again outperformed management's short-term growth targets.

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