Shares in Activision Blizzard, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, rose 11% in after-hours trading following better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The stock increased to $103 apiece after the company said net revenue climbed to $2.4 billion in the three-month period ended Dec. 31, up from just under $2 billion in the same period a year ago. Activision Blizzard had predicted a rise to just over $2 billion for the final quarter of last year.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose to 76 cents from 62 cents in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Blizzard has benefited from people staying home and playing online games during the pandemic.
The company said Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush are expected to “again drive strong results in 2021.”
“At the same time, we are making significant progress against our development pipeline for other key intellectual properties, which we expect to fuel further growth in 2022 and beyond,” the company said.
