Activision stock price falls back to 2006 levels
Publisher's shares drop despite strong Holiday for Call of Duty and World of Warcraft
Activision Blizzard's stock fell to its lowest point since November 2006 yesterday when it hit USD 8.14, despite strong sales for the chart-topping Call of Duty: World at War and record subscriber levels for World of Warcraft.
The latest instalment in the Call of Duty first-person shooter franchise outsold previous monster-selling Call of Duty 4 by 2-to-1 in the UK, according to data from GfK Chart-Track, and while it lost out on the Christmas number one spot to FIFA 09, it was still one of the most popular titles in the lucrative end-of-year period.
And following another record-breaking World of Warcraft expansion launch - Wrath of the Lich King broke first day sales records and topped charts across Europe - subscriber numbers for the MMO passed the 11.5 million mark for the first time.
Yet the share price fell over the course of the day, recovering slightly by close at USD 8.18 - a fall of 6.5 per cent - that's compared to a 52-week high of USD 19.28.
At the same time Activision Blizzard's key rivals had mixed fortunes. Take-Two fell by over 3 per cent to close at USD 7.89 - down from a 52-week high of USD 27.95 - while Electronic Arts gained over 11 per cent to close at USD 18.56, albeit down from a 52-week high of USD 55.97.