Red Dead Sells In 5M As Take-Two Swings To Q2 Profit, Raises Forecast

Take-Two on Tuesday posted strong fiscal Q2 financials and raised its outlook for the full year on an improved portfolio that includes Red Dead Redemption. The New York-based company recorded sales of $268 million for the quarter ended April 30, up 54 percent for the same quarter a year ago. Profits were $16.9 million, up from a loss one year ago of $10.4 million. Driving these results were notable 2K Games and Rockstar titles including BioShock 2, GTA: Episodes from Liberty City on PlayStation 3 and PC and Major League Baseball 2K10. Take-Two chair Strauss Zelnick said that the results were "better than expected," chalking them up to "solid performance of our triple-A titles and continued strength of our catalog business." April 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV sold 17 million units globally through the quarter, Take-Two said. In addition, the family-friendly Carnival Games franchise sold 6 million units through the quarter since its 2007 launch. The May release Red Dead Redemption wasn't included in the Q2 results, but it set the second half of the year off to a strong start with 5 million units sold through to stores to date, Take-Two said. The new open-world Wild West game, developed by Take-Two's Rockstar San Diego, led the publisher to raise fiscal year sales forecasts to between $880 and $980 million. Previously, revenue forecasts were for between $725 and $925 million for the year. The company expects a narrower loss for the year, between 10 and 30 cents per share, compared to the previously forecast loss of between 40 and 60 cents per share on a non-GAAP basis. Major factors for Take-Two's current fiscal year include L.A. Noire, Mafia II and Sid Meier's Civilization V, which are all due to release in fiscal Q4 2010, which ends in October. But the year will miss out on revenues from Max Payne 3, which Take-Two is delaying out of fiscal 2010, meaning it'll appear on or after November 2010. Take-Two's six-month revenue was $431.2 million through April, up from $323.6 million for the comparable half a year ago. Losses for the half were $16.9 million, an improvement over a loss of $64.3 million.