Activision's Q4 Loss In Line With Expectations

Net revenues for the quarter were $125.0 million, down from $164.9 million last year. That resulted in a net loss of $8.0 million (13 cents per share), compared to net income of $10.9 million (17 cents per share) last year. For the year revenues were up 10%, to $864.1 million. Net income for the year was $66.2 million (96 cents per share), a record for the company. Last year the company saw $52.2 million in net income (88 cents per share). The company cited its Spider-Man and Tony Hawk franchises as its most successful -- each were among the top five franchises in North America for console and hand-held platforms. Other successful titles included Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix, Street Hoops, Medieval Total War and Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. Of note, Activision increased its outlook for Q1 of fiscal 2004 to $140 million in revenues and a loss per share of 1 cent. The company also provided an outlook for the second quarter of $130 million in revenue and earnings per diluted share of $0.05. The company's kept its full-year outlook unchanged at 70 cents per share in earnings on sales of $750 million. Some analysts were skeptical about Activision's outlook, however. Stewart Halpern of RBC Capital Markets told his clients that according to his calculations, in order for Activision to hit its numbers, six of the 20 game franchises it is releasing this year need will have to sell over 1 million units each, and at least two others will need to sell over 500,000 units.