World of Warcraft fans aren’t the only ones eagerly awaiting next week’s release of the latest title from Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
Analysts and investors will be keeping close tabs on sales and subscription figures as they come in during the next few weeks. New York-based Jefferies & Co. earlier this month placed a “buy” rating on Santa Monica-based parent Activision Blizzard Inc. after initiating coverage. A Jefferies investor note said Call of Duty and WoW look “solid,” with added revenue streams projected from new franchises.
Blizzard saw a big subscription drop for its flagship franchise in the second quarter, but those losses were more than offset by the wildly successful release of Diablo III.
WoW lost 1.1 million subscribers in the June quarter, marking the first time in more than a year that subscriptions dipped below 10 million. Blizzard Chief Executive Michael Morhaime downplayed the losses in an analyst conference call following second-quarter earnings. He noted similar drops occurred during the waning months before World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was released in December 2010.
“Historically, we have seen usage decline towards the end of an expansion cycle,” Morhaime said.
Cataclysm sold 3.3 million copies in the first 24 hours it went on sale, a record that was broken in May with the release of Diablo III.
Blizzard finished the first six months of the year with 9.1 million WoW subscribers, which is still the most of any online role-playing game.
It will hold a launch event for Mists of Pandaria, the fourth expansion set to its flagship WoW franchise, on Sept. 24 at the Giant Wheel Court at Irvine Spectrum Center prior to the title’s midnight debut.
The lone U.S. event will feature a stage presentation, special guests, giveaways and a challenge between Blizzard employees and fans before the game goes on sale. Other launch events are planned in Europe, South America and Asia.
Delisting Notice
Santa Ana-based Identive Group Inc. has received a delisting notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to comply with minimum stock price requirements.
The company, which makes scanners, readers, cards and other security devices for buildings and computers, has until Feb. 12 to boost its share price above $1 or be “subject to delisting from the Nasdaq Global Market,” according to an Aug. 17 regulatory filing.
The last trading day share prices topped $1 was July 6.
Identive may be able to extend the grace period beyond 180 days if it transfers its shares to Nasdaq Capital Market and meets the listings requirements of that exchange.
The company provided a revenue outlook in the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street expectations last month. It projected sales of $24 million to $27 million for the current quarter, while the average analyst forecast pegged sales at $33 million.
The company projected a loss of $1.7 million to $1.9 million, in line with consensus estimates.
Identive is looking to cut $4 million to $5 million in costs as part of a restructuring plan implemented in June.
The company has seen its market value shrink 70% this year, to about $43 million.
BrightPoint Settlement
BrightPoint Inc., which is set to be acquired by Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc. in an $840 million cash deal, has reached a settlement with shareholders challenging the sale.
The deal calls for the Indianapolis-based wholesale distributor to provide more financial information to investors before they vote on the deal this week. BrightPoint included information on cash flows, revenue charts and earnings scenarios in a Sept. 6 regulatory filing.
The lawsuits, which are common after a publicly traded company is sold, contended BrightPoint did not get the best value when Ingram announced the deal in July. Monetary damages weren’t included in the settlement.
BrightPoint, which notched $5.7 billion in sales in 2011, perennially battles Miami-based Brightstar Corp. as the world’s largest wireless device distributor. About 90% of its annual revenue is derived from traditional distribution.
Finland-based Nokia Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd. in Canada accounted for almost half of the units BrightPoint handled in 2011.
Ingram is the world’s largest technology distributor with $36.3 billion in sales and $244 million in earnings last year.
