Tag: Amazon

Earnings Calendar Oct & Nov 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying

 

Hi everyone!

 

As you can see, I’ve taken a bit of a break but I’m back for my latest earnings calendar post so we can all prepare to see how companies in the gaming, media and tech spaces are performing lately. Q4 performance tends to be an important indicator of how companies are faring against full-year estimates, since it’s usually the half-way mark for a fiscal year. And it’s especially telling if companies start to adjust guidance.

 

I’ve posted the calendar above with the most current dates available, and the link below takes you to the usual Google Docs location to use it as a reference:

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar Oct & Nov 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

Some of the noteworthy results incoming within the next month:

 

 

Amazon $AMZN (Thu 10/26): The world’s largest online retailer by market capitalization recently closed its acquisition of Whole Foods back in August, so we should see the early impact of the deal on its overall business plus future guidance. Plus Amazon’s tone and guidance are always a good barometer of consumer sentiment going into the holiday season, which is of course the most important time of year for the online retailer especially as most holiday shoppers still tend to favor brick-and-mortar stores (for some odd reason.. embrace the digital revolution, folks!).

 

 

Nintendo $NTDOY (Mon 10/30): The Big N’s Switch hybrid console has even more sales momentum than I initially thought. It’s been the best-selling console in the States for the past 3 months according to NPD Group, and has moved over 1.5 million units in its home country of Japan to date. The firm’s stock is up a whopping 91% return since Switch’s launch in early March. Friend of the blog and analyst Daniel Ahmad says its worldwide total is likely around 7 million units by now, which means it’s well on its way to the 11 million in its 1st year that I predicted back in April and will likely even surpass that total. We’ll hear exactly how many have shipped in a little over a week, and exactly how much it’s contributed to the firm’s bottom line.

 

 

Samsung Electronics (Tue 10/31) and Apple Inc $AAPL (Thu 11/2): You could argue that the financial results of two of the world’s largest smart device manufacturers are always important to gauge how the global economy is doing plus how people are spending their discretionary income, but this quarter will be especially interesting for both as Samsung released its Galaxy S8 in April and its larger Galaxy Note 8 in September and Apple will provide current figures on overall iPhone shipments plus more guidance on its iPhone 8 which came out about a month back.

 

 

Ubisoft Entertainment SA $UBI (Tue 11/7): France’s Ubisoft has been on a tear this year when it comes to its lineup of games: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, For Honor, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and even 2015’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6 Siege have all spent time on the best-sellers list across a variety of regions. In fact, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is actually the best-selling game of the year in the States as of late August, and For Honor holds the 4th spot on that coveted list. And Ubi isn’t done yet for the year, releasing South Park: The Fractured But Whole just this past week plus its triple-A holiday title Assassin’s Creed Origins later this month. The company also has been making efforts to remain independent from ownership of outside parties, namely Vivendi $VIV, by buying back shares and opening new studios so I anticipate its results will remain solid if not beat to the upside.

 

 

Thanks as always and I hope you stay tuned for commentary here and on Twitter during this earnings season!

 

-Dom

 

Sources: Company Investor Relations Websites/Press Releases, MarketWatch, NPD Group, Business Wire, Daniel Ahmad.

Earnings Calendar Jul & Aug 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

DomsPlaying1 Comment

 

Welcome back friends! Time to get excited for numbers, and charts, and graphs. Lots of ’em.

 

This post is a little later than usual as the “quarterly earnings season” is already well underway, but there’s still plenty of companies within tech and gaming that have yet to announce how their business have been faring during the past few months.

 

Per usual, above you’ll see a full calendar of public companies and the dates on which earnings results are posted. Then below is a link to a Google Doc containing this same information for easy access to investor relations websites for your viewing pleasure.

 

Working Casual Earnings Calendar Jul & Aug 2017: Gaming, Media & Tech Companies

 

Some companies on my radar this quarter are as follows:

 

Amazon $AMZN: The massive online retailer based in the States announced its whopping $13.7 billion acquisition of grocer Whole Foods $WFM in June, so it may provide some sort of update on the status of this deal when it reports this Thursday, July 27th. The deal itself is a key development in the retail space as it cross over between digital and brick-and-mortar sellers, however that’s part of the reason it’s under continued scrutiny from the U.S. government and no formal approval has been given thus far.

 

 

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. $TTWO: The owner of studios Rockstar and 2K Games has seen growth lately based on the ongoing success of Grand Theft Auto V, in particular its online component. However, GTAV released all the way back in 2013, plus Take-Two doesn’t have any triple-AAA game releases this year now that Rockstar’s widely-anticipated Western Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed. In an interview recently with GamesIndustry Biz, CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged the thin release schedule and commented that ideally the company would release more big titles on a regular basis. I don’t think we’ll hear much in terms of RDR2 status other than it’s still in the development phase, but the company needs to reassure investors that its line-up can support big gaps between Rockstar’s heavy-hitting games.

 

 

Activision Blizzard $ATVI: Activision Blizzard reports on Thursday, August 3rd and is in arguably the best position this year of all the major worldwide video game publishers. Blizzard’s multiplayer hero shooter Overwatch continues its widespread appeal more than a year after release, surpassing 30 million registered players and transitioning to a viable eSports franchise with the announcement of the Overwatch League this month. The company’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, released in late June, is vastly exceeding expectations as it was the best-selling game in the world during its release month. Not to mention upcoming releases, where Activision boasts two games with huge upside that I believe will end up in the Top 5, if not Top 3, games by sales this year: (the Game of the Year contender and what might be the best game this generation if it was up to me, hah) Destiny 2, out September 6th, and Call of Duty: WWII, releasing on November 3rd. Oh, and it also now has fully integrated King Digital into its structure so it has significant mobile exposure too.

 

 

Vivendi SA $VIV: Lastly, as I’ve noted in the past, whenever French media firm Vivendi reports, there’s the potential it could formally announce a bid to purchase Ubisoft Entertainment SA $UBI, which has already reported stellar results itself for its last fiscal year. As of Vivendi’s latest annual report, it now owns 26.8% of Ubisoft’s outstanding shares, meaning that my prediction the acquisition will not happen anytime soon less and less likely by the quarter.

 

 

Thanks as always for checking out the calendar and my thoughts on some of the companies on the list. Any announcements you’re looking forward to in particular? Will the publisher of your most-anticipated game this year

 

 

-Dom

 

Sources: Company Investor Relations Websites/Press Releases, MarketWatch, GamesIndustry Biz, Business Wire.