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Take-Two’s ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Still Has Gas In The Tank

Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software ( TTWO ) posted better-than-expected fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings late Wednesday, as older game titles continued to drive sales. Take-Two earned 46 cents a share excluding items on sales of $377 million in the quarter ended March 31. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected the New York-based company to earn 26 cents a share on sales of $306 million. On a year-over-year basis, earnings per share fell 6%, and sales fell 12%. The company faced tough comparisons to the year-earlier quarter, when “Evolve” was released. Take-Two’s fiscal Q4 earnings were bolstered by older titles like “Grand Theft Auto 5,” which first launched in September 2013; “NBA 2K16,” released last September; and “WWE 2K16,” released in October. The company’s “Grand Theft Auto Online” service also posted strong results. New game “XCOM 2” contributed to sales as well. Take-Two stock was up 4%, near 37, in midday trading on the stock market today . Its shares hit a record high of 38.52 on April 4. Two other big game publishers also are trading near all-time highs. Activision Blizzard ( ATVI ) was down 1.5% to below 38 midday Wednesday. Activision hit a record high of 39.93 on Dec. 29. And  Electronic Arts ( EA ) was down 1%, near 74, but it scored a record high of 77.15 on Monday. Take-Two’s guidance for the current fiscal year, however, disappointed, as the company will not release an anticipated sequel to its “Red Dead” Western game this year. At the midpoint of its guidance, Take-Two expects to earn $1.13 a share on sales of $1.55 billion in fiscal 2017. Analysts were modeling $1.91 and $1.76 billion, respectively. Take-Two’s game slate includes the release this month of “Battleborn”; “NBA 2K17” in September; and “Mafia 3,” Civilization 6” and “WWE 2K17” in October. Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson reiterated his overweight rating on Take-Two stock with a price target of 40. “While fiscal 2017 guidance is below consensus, most investors will likely give Take-Two a pass on the outlook, given it does not include a new version of ‘Red Dead,’ and management is hinting that fiscal 2018 will be a year of strong growth,” Olson said. In a statement, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said the company’s Rockstar Games studio is “hard at work on some exciting future projects that will be revealed soon.” Rockstar is the studio behind the “Red Dead” and “Grand Theft Auto” franchises. Take-Two noted that “Grand Theft Auto 5” to date has sold 65 million units, up 5 million in the last quarter. Take-Two Lacking Major Game Catalyst Rest Of Year The lack of a Rockstar game this year leaves Take-Two stock without a major catalyst, said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson. Fiscal 2017 will be the second consecutive year without a Rockstar game, he said in a research note. Wilson rates Take-Two stock as sector weight. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian maintained his neutral rating on Take-Two stock but cut his price target to 37 from 38. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter reiterated his neutral rating on Take-Two but raised his price target to 32 from 30.50. “We continue to be impressed by Take-Two’s ability to consistently deliver upside to both its guidance and consensus expectations,” Pachter said in a report. “Grand Theft Auto 5’s phenomenal catalog sales and the ongoing robust performance of Grand Theft Auto Online position the company to deliver profits for the foreseeable future; however, we remain unwilling to recommend Take-Two shares until we have greater visibility into its long-term release pipeline.” RELATED: EA Scores Positive Reviews From Investor Day; Stock Gets PT Hike Activision Blizzard Ready To Rack Up Points From E-Sports Disney’s Exit From Toys-To-Life Video Games Could Boost Activision .

As Anti-Conservative Spat Boils, Facebook PAC Favors Republicans

As CEO Mark Zuckerberg defends Facebook against accusations of anti-conservative bias, the company’s political action committee has given more money to Republicans than Democrats running for federal office, according to an analysis by MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization. On Wednesday, Zuckerberg met with 17 conservatives, including radio host Glenn Beck, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump campaign aide Barry Bennett and Arthur Brooks, president of the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The brouhaha began after a report from Gizmodo saying that contractors working on the social network’s “Trending Topics” feature suppressed stories from conservative media outlets from appearing on its influential “Trending” news section. The claims were made by a former contractor, who was described as politically conservative and who worked with Facebook. Facebook strongly denied the allegations, leading up to Zuckerberg’s meeting with conservative voices. Zuckerberg says his company is conducting a full investigation but so far has found no evidence that the report is true. The Facebook PAC was founded in 2011 “to give employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process.” Since 2011, the PAC has given $477,500 to Republican candidates, including John Boehner and Paul Ryan, and $425,500 to Democrats running for federal office, including John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi, according to MapLight’s analysis of data from the Center For Responsive Politics. So far in the 2016 election cycle , the PAC has given more money to Republicans in both houses of Congress. The PAC has supported one presidential candidate, giving $4,000 to Marco Rubio’s 2016 campaign. It’s also given to other PACs and party committees, contributing $54,000 to Republican groups and $55,000 to Democratic groups, MapLight said. Zuckerberg has contributed $25,000 to Facebook’s PAC. Zuckerberg has also contributed $15,600 to Democratic candidates for federal office and $13,000 to Republican candidates. He has given $10,000 to San Francisco’s Democratic County Central Committee. Facebook stock, meanwhile, is trading near record highs after breaking out April 28 at a 117.09 buy point. Shares were down 1%, near 116, in midday trading in the stock market today . Shares touched a record high of 121.08 one week ago and broke out of a cup-with-handle base at 117.09 on April 28. It is an IBD Leaderboard stock.

Apple iPhone 7 Ramp In July Will Stoke Q4 Sales: Analog Devices

Apple ( AAPL ) iPhone 7 demand could falter, but 3D Touch supplier Analog Devices ( ADI ) expects a strong fiscal Q4 on boosted dollar-content in Apple’s newest flagship smartphone, likely to be released in September. But that ramp won’t be apparent in Q3. Wednesday, Analog Devices reported  sales fell 5% year over year for its fiscal Q2 ended April 30, and guided to another 5% dip in Q3. Over the past two years, Analog Devices has grown an average 13.5% during its July quarter. This year, Analog Devices’ second-generation 3D Touch will ramp in timing with chips from other Apple suppliers, Analog Devices CFO Dave Zinsner told analysts during the company’s Q2 earnings conference call. “And really that means that we really don’t see the demand pick up until the July time frame,” he said. “So, it’s probably going to be more of the end of Q3 and more into Q4 this time vs. last year where it was more of a ramp in Q3.” Analog Devices’ Q3 will be back-end loaded on Apple’s iPhone 7, Edward Jones analyst Bill Kreher told IBD. More encouraging, the company is seeing stable demand within its automotive and industrial segments, he says. “The outlook suggests the company is weathering the near-term softness in Apple,” he said. “And, as it relates to Apple, the company indicated this would be a trough in terms of orders. They expect to see sequential growth, and from that perspective it is encouraging because there will be a ramping in orders.” MKM analyst Ian Ing reiterated a neutral rating and 56 price target on Analog Devices stock. In morning trading on the stock market today , Analog Devices stock was down more than 1%, near 55, after rising nearly 1% on Wednesday. Despite Zinsner’s expectations for boosted dollar-content in the iPhone 7, Ing sees average sales prices for the second-generation 3D to fall 10% from $1.75. Consumer sales account for 10% of Analog Devices’ revenue and fell 27% vs. the year-earlier quarter in Q2. But Ing doesn’t expect much of a Q3 boost for Analog Devices’ bread-and-butter business-to-business segments, which account for the other 90% of sales. Those segments grew 9% sequentially in Q2 to $698.7 million, but fell 2% vs. the year-earlier quarter. Analog Devices guided to mid-to-high single-digit year-over-year growth for those segments in Q3. For Q4, the company expects greater operating leverage, a full quarter of portables shipments, higher factory utilizations and better automotive seasonality, Ing wrote. But lower factory utilizations in Q3 suggests “little visibility or confidence in the overall demand environment,” Ing wrote. Analog Devices guided down to 60%-range utilizations for Q3 vs. 70% in the year-earlier quarter. The goal is to cut down on inventory, the company says. “The macro environment for Analog Devices business-to-business segments remains mixed at best,” Ing wrote.