Posts for Ticker ‘TTWO’

Top Analyst Upgrades (AXL, BRCD, CL, ELX, GRMN, PGR, Q, SLB, TTWO)

These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, initiations, and positive research calls seen early from Wall Street:

American Axle (NYSE: AXL) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Emulex (NYSE: ELX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Progressive (NYSE: PGR) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Qwest (NYSE: Q) Raised to Market-Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Schlumerberger (NYSE: SLB) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Textron (NYSE: TXT) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week if you wish to be notified by email when the top upgrades and downgrades are out, for top day trader alerts, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted on: September 11, 2009 – 8:12 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 9/2/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Sales  growth of Ford (F) and Hyundai topped other car companies.

Reuters:   The EU could slow a takeover of Sun (JAVA) by Oracle (ORCL).

Reuters:   Home sales and factory orders signaled an end to the recession.

Reuters:   Executives a bailed out banks may make millions on stock options. Read More »

Posted on: September 2, 2009 – 3:54 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Video Game Sector Preps For Tough Year-End (GME, SNE, MSFT, ERTS, AMZN, NTDOY, TTWO, ATVI)

burning-money-picThe video game sector was supposed to be one of the relative beneficiaries of the recession even if it was not to be entirely immune.  The sector was part of the ‘in-living room entertainment’ trade.  Yet, it isn’t working out that way.  It seems that there has been almost no good news in the sector and the economic recovery is skipping the leaders.  Earnings from GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) were not helped at all by guidance.  Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) has potentially started a war of emasculation among console makers with its recent price cuts.  And game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) gave a poor showing with its most recent results.  Recent NPD data for video game sales showed some of the worst reports imaginable.
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Posted on: August 20, 2009 – 10:52 am in Earnings, Entertainment, Video Games, , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/14/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   Riots in China show the nation is in flux.

Reuters:   The US is considering mortgage aid for the unemployed.

Reuters:   The June budget gap was $94 billion.

Reuters:   Rattner stepped down from the auto task force.

Reuters:   The spy probe of Rio Tinto (RTP) workers in China grew.

Reuters:   A new consumer agency won’t cause bank fee hikes. Read More »

Posted on: July 14, 2009 – 3:00 am in Airlines, Alternative Energy, Autos, Banking, China, Compensation, Earnings Warning, Economy, Green Biz, Hardware, Internet, Oil & Gas, PC Companies, Press Digest, Software, Video Games, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Does Take-Two (TTWO) CEO Ben Feder Keep His Job?

wiiShares of Take-Two (TTWO) Interactive fell 14% after hours as the company cuts its forecasts of earnings and sales for its fiscal 2009. The major reason for the change was the delay of the launch of  the BioShock 2 game from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010.

This is one in a long series of failures by the management of Take-Two which is headed by CEO Ben Feder. The shares are down almost 60% since he joined the company, and has not only turned down a generous buyout offer from Electronic Arts (ERTS), but has also missed forecasts on more than one occasion.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: July 13, 2009 – 7:59 pm in Earnings Warning, Video Games, ,

Ahead of E3, Microsoft Shows 30 Million Xbox 360 Users (MSFT)

XBOX LogoMicrosoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is making some strong projections and updates for its Xbox video gaming system.  The company noted that global sales of the Xbox 360 unit have now crossed the 30 million mark, and the Xbox LIVE has passed the 20 million mark.
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Posted on: May 28, 2009 – 8:23 am in Entertainment, Media, Video Games, , ,

Media Digest 5/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   GM (GM) is close to filing Chapter 11.

Reuters:   A poll of economists says the US recession will end soon followed by modest growth.

Retuers:   The mood of US consumers rose despite falling home prices.

Reuters:   Microsoft (MSFT) will launch a new Zune player later this year.

Reuters:   China tries to make Macau a better bet for casinos than Las Vegas. Read More »

Posted on: May 27, 2009 – 2:59 am in Autos, Banking, China, Compensation, Consumer Electronics, Drug companies, Earnings, Hardware, Labor & Unions, Law, Media, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Retail, Semiconductor, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is Take-Two (TTWO) A Takeover Target Again

winter7Barron’s reports that there are rumors that Take-Two (TTWO) may receive a takeover offer soon. It turned down an offer from Electronic Arts (ERTS) last year. The shares are up 12% to $9.43.

The stock is a dog. Earnings have been poor and the shares have been changing hands at $8, well below the $27.95 that the stock hit when it looked like the firm would be bought. Analysts estimate that in the quarter that will end in April, revenue will fall 60% and that TTWO will lose $.13 a share.

A poor decision by management and the board not to dump the company has cost shareholders dearly. With its prospects dimming, Take-Two will be lucky to get a new offer over $15.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: April 13, 2009 – 11:07 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Video Games, ,

Video Game Sector Braces For Electronic Arts Earnings (ERTS, TTWO, ATVI, THQI, GME)

Ea_logoElectronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is set to report earnings after the close of trading today.  The (former) largest US-based video game company is expected to post $0.91 non-GAAP EPS on $1.92 billion in revenue.

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Posted on: February 3, 2009 – 12:40 pm in Earnings, Video Games, , , , ,

52-Week Low Club (ARTC, CORL, GEOY, HPGP, HLND, HRC, PDLI, SNN, TTWO)

Burning_money_picThere are plenty of 52-week lows out there for the picking.  These are some of the major lows we saw today which we have seen.  Some are on specific news, and some are just on continued selling.  ArthroCare Corporation (NASDAQ: ARTC), Corel Corp. (NASDAQ: CORL), GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), Hiland Holdings GP, LP (NASDAQ: HPGP) and Hiland Partners, LP (NASDAQ: HLND), Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC), PDL BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: PDLI), Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) are among today’s burnt stocks. 

Here are some brief explanations on each stock:

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Posted on: December 19, 2008 – 3:01 pm in HI/LOW, Trading Alert, , , , , , , , ,

The 52-Week Low Club: (MNI)(SGY)(NT)(TTWO)

Sad_clownMcClatchy Newspapers (MNI) Drops to $.98 as shareholder panic. The 52-week high is $13.31.

Stone Energy (SGY) Cuts production view for quarter. Drops to $8.47 from 52-week high of $73.96.

Nortel Networks (NT) falls to $.24 on concerns about bankruptcy against 52-week high of $16.07.

Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) Remarkably poor earnings and awful forecast. Sells down to $8.65 from 52-week high of $27.95.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: December 18, 2008 – 3:58 pm in HI/LOW, , , ,

Media Digest 12/18/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, Chrysler will idle its plant for a month to cut inventory and costs.

Reuters reports that the SEC is under fire over the Madoff investigation.

Reuters reports that Obama picked Mary Shapiro to the SEC.

Reuters reports that most analysts think that Japan will cut rates.

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Posted on: December 18, 2008 – 3:59 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , ,

Take-Two Sees 2009 As Cold Year In Hell (TTWO, ERTS)

Burning_money_pic_2Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) just joined the ranks of video game publishers with bad earnings. Real bad earnings. And thank heavens for non-GAAP accounting. The company posted a GAAP loss of -$0.10 EPS and non-GAAP earnings of $0.02 EPS; and revenue was $323.4 million.  Thomson Reuters (First Call) had estimates of $0.05 EPS and $325.77 million in revenue.  It gets worse.

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Posted on: December 17, 2008 – 4:26 pm in Earnings, Earnings Warning, Entertainment, Video Games, ,

Media Digest 12/15/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

NewspaperAccording to Reuters, there may be another bubble in commodities prices.

Reuters reports that the recession is hurting Japan’s economic sentiment and China’s industrial output.

Reuters writes that Bush said the auto bailout is not ready.

Reuters reports that total loss in home value in 2008 is more than $2 trillion.

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Posted on: December 15, 2008 – 4:01 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , ,

More Recession Carnage For Video Games (ERTS, ATVI, GME, THQI, TTWO)

Ea_logoElectronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) signaled about six weeks ago that the video game industry wasn’t recession-proof.  It turns out that the company (and likely the sector) is not even as recession-resistant as many had once hoped.  The video game giant said that it will fall short of estimates due to lower-than-expected sales across North America and Europe.  The company noted that its holiday line-up is not meeting sales expectations.  So much for the couch potato and stay-at-home demographics holding up.

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Posted on: December 9, 2008 – 5:11 pm in Earnings Warning, Media, Retail, Video Games, , , , ,

Gears of War 2 Launch Taking Up Other Video Game Money (MSFT, ERTS, THQI, ATVI, TTWO, GME)

Gears_of_war_logoIn about 36 hours, the highly awaited release of "Gears of War 2" comes to stores for a midnight opening.  The Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Game Studio published game developed by Epic Games Inc. comes on the heels a highly successful "Gears of War" which sold more than 5 million copies.  We have started seeing signs that the video game sector might not be so recession-proof, but some of the weakness may be due to the high-demand spending for this game at $59.99 or the collectible limited edition for $10.00 more.  The figures are going to be hard to compare, but "Gears of War 2" has a shot at being one of the top video game releases of this year.  The game already achieved Gold Status early last month.

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Posted on: November 5, 2008 – 5:39 pm in Video Games, , , , , ,

Take-Two (TTWO) Screws Shareholders, Shares Down Almost 30%

R218533_855025Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) could have taken an overly generous offer from Electronic Arts (ERTS). Instead, it held out for a higher price and hinted that it had other buyers.

The ERTS bid was worth $25.74. Take-Two changed hands at about $15 before the offer. Today its shares are off 28% to $15.75.

The board and management may want to find themselves outstanding attorneys.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: September 15, 2008 – 8:42 am in Entertainment, ,

Media Digest 9/15/2008 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Newspaper

According to Reuters, Lehman (LEH) will seek Chapter 11 protection.

Reuters reports that Bank of America (BAC) will buy Merrill Lynch (MER) for $50 billion.

Reuters reports that AIG (AIG) is facing a liquidity crisis and has asked to borrow $40 billion from the Fed.

Reuters writes that ten large banks have set up a $70 billion borrowiing facility.

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Posted on: September 15, 2008 – 2:27 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Electronic Arts (ERTS) Walks Away From Take-Two (TTWO)

R218533_855025Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) chairman Strauss Zelnick overplayed his hand. He continued to refuse a buyout bid from larger game company Electronic Arts (ERTS). Now Take-Two shareholders will pay for Zelnick’s error.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Ever since EA first offered $26 a share for Take-Two in February, the New York-based publisher had rejected EA’s offer as inadequate."

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Posted on: September 14, 2008 – 4:21 pm in Mergers and Buy Outs, ,

24/7 Wall St. Day-Trading Alerts (HD)(LOW)(TTWO)(ERTS)(FNM)(FRE)

Cammonopoly_wideweb__430x3250VSInvestor reports on several stocks moving on heavy volume today.

At the top of the list are Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) dropping on comments from Barron’s that the common shareholders in the company could be wiped out.

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Posted on: August 18, 2008 – 9:39 am in Research, , , , , ,