EA, Take-Two to benefit from console upgrade ‘sweet spot’
Video game publishers are starting to benefit from the console upgrade cycle hitting the sweet spot and the shift to digital distribution, investment bank Jefferies said Wednesday. Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz said he is broadly positive on the video game sector following the annual E3 trade show last week in Los Angeles. Pitz on Wednesday upgraded his ratings on game publishers Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) to buy from hold. He also has a buy rating on Activision Blizzard (ATVI). Pitz sees “two powerful, multiyear tailwinds” for the sector: faster-than-expected sales of next-generation consoles and the transition to digital distribution and other digital revenue streams. He expects the installed base of the latest consoles, specifically Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One, to reach 48 million to 49 million by the end of 2015, two years after they launched. By comparison, it took the previous…