GTA V ships 33 million, boosts Take-Two's income to a record $361m

Take-Two Interactive has just released its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal report for the 2014 fiscal year. Thanks to the record-breaking performance of Grand Theft Auto V, which quickly generated sales of $1 billion in its first three days and has now sold-in 33 million units to date, the publisher grew its GAAP net revenue by 94 percent to a record $2.35 billion and boosted its GAAP net income to a record $361.7 million (up from last year's net loss of $31.2 million).

Non-GAAP numbers for the 2014 fiscal year came to $2.414 billion in revenues (up 94 percent) and $510.7 million in net income. Aside from the incredible sales of GTA V, other games that boosted Take-Two in its fiscal year included NBA 2K14, Borderlands 2, WWE 2K14, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto Online, BioShock Infinite and offerings for Sid Meier's Civilization V. The publisher also noted that Non-GAAP net revenue from digitally-delivered content grew 65 percent year-over-year to a record $435.1 million.

"During fiscal 2014, Take-Two set new records for both our Company and the entertainment industry," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. "Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V reached $1 billion in sales faster than any entertainment release in history, NBA 2K14 enjoyed the franchise's strongest launch, Borderlands 2 became 2K's top-selling title, and our digitally-delivered revenue grew to its highest level ever. As a result, we delivered record revenue, earnings and cash flow for our shareholders.

"Over the past several years, Take-Two has been transformed into a financially strong, global interactive entertainment company with numerous successful franchises across a variety of genres. We also have complemented the Company's core business with growing profits from recurrent consumer spending, including add-on content, virtual currency and online gaming. The evolution of Take-Two is reflected in our strong profit outlook for fiscal 2015 and expectation for continued Non-GAAP profitability every year for the foreseeable future."

While the 2014 fiscal year set records for Take-Two, the company's recent fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2014, was less productive. Net revenue came to $195.2 million, down from last year's fourth-quarter sales of $299.5 million, and Take-Two also suffered a net loss of $30.8 million compared to last fourth quarter's net income of $21.2 million. The publisher primarily put the blame on a tough comparison with BioShock Infinite.

Looking at the 2015 fiscal year, Take-Two is now providing initial guidance of $1.35 to $1.45 billion in non-GAAP revenues and $0.80 to $1.05 in non-GAAP earnings per share.

[UPDATE]: In a post-earnings conference call, Zelnick updated investors on a few new sales figures for its games. Borderlands 2 has now shipped 9 million units worldwide, with BioShock Infinite shipping 6 million to date and Civilization V shipping 5 million units.

Additionally, Zelnick indicated Rockstar Games would be making its debut on the new generation of systems by the end of March 2015, saying, "We've confirmed that they're hard at work on their current lineup, and we're very excited about what they have in store for next-gen systems in this fiscal year." Take-Two expects Rockstar to account for about 45 percent of its revenues in the current fiscal year.