Take-Two Maintains Annual Bookings Outlook Despite Strong GTA VI Interest
Take-Two Interactive reported record GTA VI pre-orders on Aug. 7, but left its fiscal 2027 net bookings guidance unchanged, sending shares up more than 5%.
CEO Strauss Zelnick called pre-order demand "unprecedented and astonishing" on the post-earnings call, but declined to share specific numbers.
"We haven't sold one unit yet. And you can cancel a pre-order."
Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive
Pre-orders for GTA VI opened June 25, five days before the quarter closed. The standard edition is priced at $79.99, with an "ultimate" version at $99.99. The game is scheduled to launch Nov. 19.
For the quarter ended June 30, net bookings fell 3% to $1.39B, just above analyst consensus of $1.36B. Revenue rose 2% to $1.53B. The net loss widened to $34.1M, or 18 cents a share, versus a loss of $11.9M a year earlier.
A $43.4M impairment charge tied to a cancelled unannounced third-party title drove the wider loss. Analysts had expected a loss of 20 cents a share.
NBA 2K and the GTA franchise were the top bookings contributors. NBA 2K net bookings rose 7% and GTA rose 3%. Mobile spending declined 7%, dragging overall recurrent consumer spending down 1%.
The online question hanging over GTA VI
Investors aren't just watching the Nov. 19 launch date. They want to know Take-Two's plan for a GTA VI online multiplayer mode.
GTA V Online became a consistent long-term revenue source well after GTA V's 2013 release, and analysts say replicating that model matters more than the launch itself. GTA V has sold over 230M units since launch.
MoffettNathanson analyst Clay Griffin said the longevity of the online opportunity is "pretty well understood" to be the bigger financial driver. The live-service model lets companies generate recurring income through in-game currency purchases.
Take-Two's full-year guidance of $8B to $8.2B trails Wall Street's expectation of $8.53B, according to FactSet. For the current quarter, the company guided net bookings of $1.62B to $1.67B, also below consensus.
Zelnick called fiscal 2027 "an inflection point" for the company, but management wouldn't revise guidance ahead of actual sales.