Take-Two lifts revenue forecast, touts GTA VI preorders

Take-Two Interactive raised its full-year revenue and profit outlook on Monday, Nov. 9, but kept its bookings target unchanged. The publisher posted a weaker second quarter and gave a holiday-quarter forecast slightly below Wall Street's estimate, 10 days before the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI." Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick said preorders were "running far in excess of our expectations," according to Variety.variety.com

The company now expects fiscal 2027 GAAP net revenue of $7.98 billion to $8.18 billion and net income of $109 million to $142 million, according to its earnings release. Its previous guidance was $7.90 billion to $8.10 billion in revenue and $104 million to $143 million in net income, according to Morningstar and GamesBeat. The net bookings outlook stayed at $8.0 billion to $8.2 billion.ir.take2games.com+2

A soft quarter and cautious guidance

Net bookings for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell 18% to $1.60 billion from $1.96 billion a year earlier, and GAAP net revenue dropped to $1.50 billion, the company said. Bookings came in below the LSEG London Stock Exchange Group plc analyst estimate of $1.67 billion, Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 3.79% reported. They also landed under the company's own guidance range of $1.62 billion to $1.67 billion. "NBA 2K27" had the second-biggest bookings launch in the series' history but still missed Take-Two's internal forecast, GamesIndustry.biz reported.reuters.com+2

Take-Two forecast third-quarter bookings of $3.35 billion to $3.50 billion. Analysts had expected about $3.51 billion, Reuters reported. Shares fell about 4% in extended trading and were already down more than 17% for the year. Wall Street had modeled full-year bookings of $8.62 billion, well above the company's range, Investor's Business Daily noted.investors.com+1

All eyes on Nov. 19

"GTA VI" is set to launch Nov. 19 on PlayStation 5 Sony Group Corporation and Xbox Series X and S Microsoft Corporation ↗ 2.75%, Variety reported. It arrives some 13 years after the previous main installment. Preorders opened in June, and Sensor Tower estimated about 7.71 million digital preorders as of Nov. 3, worth more than $750 million in gross revenue, according to Reuters.reuters.com+1

In the earnings release, Zelnick said preorders were "continuing to reach unprecedented levels" and that the company expects "to deliver an historic year," the release shows. Barron's News Corp ↗ 1.28% reported that he called the launch "uncharted territory" and said preorders were "trending well above our expectations," according to its coverage.barrons.com+1

Zelnick would not give exact preorder figures. "We never claim success before it's earned," he told Variety. "We're just days away from beginning to see the fruits of our labor."variety.com