Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) late Thursday trounced analyst estimates for its fiscal second quarter. But its announcement of a six-month delay for its highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto 6” game overshadowed the positive earnings report. TTWO stock fell in extended trading.
The New York City-based company earned an adjusted $1.46 a share on net bookings of $1.96 billion in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected Take-Two to earn 94 cents a share on net bookings of $1.73 billion. On a year-over-year basis, Take-Two’s adjusted earnings jumped 121% while net bookings rose 33%.
Take-Two credited its outperformance in fiscal Q2 largely to its hit pro basketball game “NBA 2K6” and mobile games such as “Toon Blast” and “Match Factory.”
However, Take-Two said its studio Rockstar Games needs more time to finish making “Grand Theft Auto 6.” So it delayed the game’s release to Nov. 19 to give the creative team “some additional time to finish the game with the high level of polish players expect and deserve.” The release originally was scheduled for May 26.
For the current quarter, Take-Two expects to earn an adjusted 80 cents a share on net bookings of $1.58 billion. That’s based on the midpoint of its outlook. Wall Street had been modeling earnings of 76 cents a share on net bookings of $1.49 billion for the fiscal third quarter ending Dec. 31. In the same quarter last year, it earned an adjusted 72 cents a share on net bookings of $1.37 billion.
TTWO Stock Falls After Report
For the full fiscal year ending March 31, Take-Two raised its net bookings target to a range of $6.4 billion to $6.5 billion. Analysts had been expecting $6.18 billion in the current fiscal 2026. The midpoint of Take-Two’s guidance would represent 14% growth over fiscal 2025.
Further, Take-Two guided to adjusted earnings of $3.17 a share for the full year, vs. the consensus estimate of $2.90.
In after-hours trading on the stock market today, TTWO stock fell more than 7% to 233.75. During the regular session Thursday, TTWO stock sank 0.9% to close at 252.40.
“We are thrilled with the expectations surrounding ‘GTA 6’ with the great anticipation,” Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick told Investor’s Business Daily. “It’s always difficult when we move a (release) date (but) we want to release the best entertainment experience that we can.”
Take-Two expects to achieve record levels of net bookings in fiscal 2027, Zelnick said.
Meanwhile, TTWO stock is on the IBD Tech Leaders list.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
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