Halo 3 may generate $170 million Q1 revenue

According to Goldman Sachs analysts, Halo 3 may generate USD 170 million in revenue during Microsoft's first quarter which ends five days after the game's launch.

A Bloomberg article notes that Microsoft's stock rose the most in the five months since analysts recommended purchasing shares of Apple, Microsoft, and EMC. The Microsoft recommendation was based upon expectations that Halo 3 would boost revenue.

Microsoft climbed 95 cents, or 3.3 per cent, to USD 29.60 today for the top gain in the Dow average.

If Halo 3 does generate USD 170 million for Microsoft, it will mark the first profitable quarter for the company's gaming segment, which has been in the red since the launch of the original Xbox.

Goldman Sachs analysts Sarah Friar and Frederick Grieb predict that Microsoft will have shipped a total of 4.2 million copies into the retail channel by the end of September.

While these numbers are slightly behind those for Halo 2, which shipped approximately 7.5 million copies by the end of 2004, the Xbox had an installed user base of almost 20 million when Halo 2 was released.

In contrast, the Xbox 360 has a worldwide installed user base of just over 11.6 million.