Major game publisher and developer Activision has had its stock rating upgraded by investment banking and securities firm Bear Stearns to outperform from peer perform, after Bear Stearns analyst R. Glen Reid commented of the
Spider-Man and
Tony Hawk publisher: "The company is at a point in its growth where its proven franchises, premium pricing, and steady international expansion should yield solid gains in profitability."
So far this year, Activision has seen four analyst upgrades, and only one downgrade, and its
most recent results, while showing a slight loss, had the firm raise its outlook for the year to $1.47 billion in revenues, while revealing it had $786 million in cash and short-term investments.
Partly in response to this news, Activision shares ended at $20.29, up around 3% on the day, and reasonably close to the company's 52-week high of $21.00, fairly impressive considering the company's shares were at around $10.00 just a year ago.