Zynga Posts Strong Bookings on Slots, Words With Friends Games
11 February 2016 - 8:50AM
Dow Jones News
Zynga Inc. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter results at the
top end of its expectations, driven largely by strength in its
Slots and Words with Friends games, though the game developer
continues to bleed users.
Zynga is still trying to find the kind of success with mobile
apps that it once had on PCs, particularly in games played through
Facebook like FarmVille.
The company said it is planning to launch 10 games in 2016,
including the highly-anticipated Dawn of Titans title that was
delayed last year. Chief Executive Mark Pincus said in an interview
that the slate of releases should position the company for
growth.
Still, Zynga forecast bookings of $150 million to $165 million
for its current quarter, below the $172.3 million that analysts
polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast. Zynga also said it expects
an adjusted loss of a penny a share or for the company to break
even, which would match analysts' expectations.
Meanwhile, Zynga continued to struggle with a decline in
customers in its fourth quarter.
In the latest quarter, the number of people playing its games
daily fell 24% to 18 million, as daily mobile users fell 14% and
daily web users tumbled 49%. Monthly active users fell 30% to 68
million.
Zynga cited a lack of big new game releases.
But bookings, a measure of revenue closely watched by analysts,
came in at $182.1 million, topping the $165 million to $180 million
the company had forecast in November.
Zynga said both its Words with Friends and Slots franchises
posted their highest quarterly bookings ever.
In all, for the period ended Dec. 31, Zynga reported a loss of
$46.9 million, compared with a loss of $45.1 million a year
earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings were flat at five
cents.
Excluding special items, Zynga broke even for the quarter on a
per-share basis, at the top end of the company's forecast.
Revenue fell 3.5% to $185.8 million. Zynga had forecast revenue
in the range of $170 million to $185 million for the quarter.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 10, 2016 16:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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