Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Game Over, Zynga? Stock Down 40% After Poor Earnings


Zynga reported its second quarter earnings Wednesday and the results aren’t good, falling short of analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings per share.

This is only Zynga’s second quarter as a public company and after tepid first quarter earnings, the company needed a win. That didn’t happen. The stock is down nearly 40% after-hours trades at the the time of this writing.

Looking at the results, its hard to find any bright spots for the social gaming giant.

Revenue was $332 million, up 19% year over year, but falling short of analyst expectations. Moreover, bookings were down 8% compared with the first quarter of 2012.

Zynga also reported a net income loss of $22.8 million, thanks in part to a $95.5 million stock-based expense.

The company reported a diluted earnings per share (EPS) loss of ($0.03) for the second quarter and a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) EPS of $0.01.

Zynga also adjusted its outlook for the rest of 2012 in order to “reflect delays in launching new games, a faster decline in existing web games due in part to a more challenging environment on the Facebook web platform, and reduced expectations for Draw Something.”

The Facebook revelation is interesting, as it could indicate either increased competition on the platform or larger monetization problems on Facebook itself.

Facebook stock is also down about 6% in after-hours trades. Facebook announces its first earnings as a public company on Thursday.

What do you think of Zynga’s dismal stats? Has the bubble burst? Let us know in the comments. (Mashable.com)
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