Zynga Reports Explosive Revenues as People Play Games During Covid

Shares of Zynga Inc. were soaring 10% in extended trading on Wednesday after the company reported earnings.

The company reported that revenue improved 47% to $452 million from $306.5 million a year ago. Sales included record online game revenue of $388 million, up 61% year-over-year.

The mobile-gaming company reported a second-quarter net loss of $150 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $55.8 million, or 6 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted a loss of 13 cents a share on sales of $505 million.

Popular titles “Empires Puzzles,” “Merge Dragons,” “Merge Magic” and “Game of Thrones Slots Casino” were the largest drivers of growth, according to the company.

Zynga also announced that it is buying developer Rollic and closed its acquisition of Peak, a maker of mobile puzzle games, on July 1st.

Zynga also raised its full-year revenue guidance $110 million to $1.8 billion.

“If you asked me New Year’s Eve [2019], I did not think it would happen,” Zynga Chief Executive Frank Gibeau told MarketWatch. “But the pandemic changed that. Gaming is very resilient during economic difficulties. It is an awesome way to connect.”

“We delivered tremendous results in Q2, achieving our highest quarterly revenue and bookings and generating Zynga’s best quarterly operating cash flow in more than eight years. We also executed our transformational acquisition of Peak and are now entering Q3 with eight forever franchises, adding significant scale to our live services foundation,” said Gibeau. “Additionally, we have entered into an agreement to acquire Istanbul-based Rollic, developer and publisher of a portfolio of popular hyper-casual games in one of the largest and fastest-growing mobile gaming categories.”

Zynga’s shares are up 62% this year so far.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and have not been compensated for this article.