ZNGA: ANALYST "WE ARE ANOINTING ZYNGA-AS-OUR-BEST-IDEA AMONG OUR COVERED (SMALL AND MIDCAP) NAMES,"
"WE ARE ANOINTING ZYNGA AS OUR BEST IDEA AMONG OUR COVERED (SMALL AND MIDCAP) NAMES," HE SAID.
TOTAL REVENUE GROWTH IS ACCELERATING.
ZYNGA BULL COWEN SAYS COMPANY'S TURNED ITSELF AROUND -- MARKET TALK
'Words With Friends' Game Publisher Called 'BEST IDEA' STOCK PICK
Mobile video game publisher Zynga (ZNGA) is showing progress in its turnaround efforts, Cowen analyst Doug Creutz said in a report Friday.
CREUTZ REITERATED HIS OUTPERFORM RATING ON ZYNGA AND RAISED HIS PRICE TARGET TO 4.50 FROM 4.25.
ZYNGA WAS UP 3.9% TO 3.76 IN AFTERNOON TRADING ON THE STOCK MARKET TODAY. It hit an all-time low of 1.78 in February 2016.
"WE ARE ANOINTING ZYNGA AS OUR BEST IDEA AMONG OUR COVERED (SMALL AND MIDCAP) NAMES," HE SAID. "We believe valuation remains attractive, and with investor interest in the gaming sector continuing to increase, we believe shares are positioned to outperform."
San Francisco-based Zynga makes such games as "Words With Friends," "Zynga Poker," "Hit it Rich! Slots," "CSR Racing" and "FarmVille." Zynga has been shifting its focus over the last few years from web-based games on Facebook (FB) and its site to mobile games that play on Apple (AAPL) iOS and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Android devices.
IBD'S TAKE: The IBD 50 list of top-performing growth stocks includes two video game companies: Activision Blizzard and NetEase.
"With the company's mobile business growing at 20%-plus year over year, but the Facebook business shrinking even faster, for several years the company could make no headway on revenue growth," CREUTZ SAID. "Now, however, MOBILE GAMING IS APPROACHING 90% OF TOTAL REVENUE, and as a result, TOTAL REVENUE GROWTH IS ACCELERATING."
Source:
www.investors.com/news/technology/click/words-with-friends-game-publisher-called-best-idea-stock-pick/
ZYNGA BULL COWEN SAYS COMPANY'S TURNED ITSELF AROUND -- MARKET TALK
10:46 ET - Cowen makes a bull case for Zynga (ZNGA), arguing the videogame company has righted itself after a tough period of adapting to making mobile games instead of desktop games for Facebook (FB). ZNGA's management team is different today than during those transition years and its mobile games --which include "Words With Friends," "CRS Racing 2 " and "Hit It Rich!" --now account for about 90% of the company's total revenue , the firm says . WHAT'S MORE, MOBILE GAMES IN GENERAL HAVE BECOME THE MOST LUCRATIVE SEGMENT OF THE OVERALL VIDEOGAME INDUSTRY, WITH WORLD-WIDE REVENUE THIS YEAR EXPECTED TO REACH $46.1B, according to research firm Newzoo. "WE ARE ANOINTING ZYNGA AS OUR BEST IDEA AMONG OUR COVERED [SMALL-MID CAPITALIZATION] NAMES," COWEN SAYS IN A NOTE TO INVESTORS. "With management controlling costs, the company should generate a very high incremental margin on revenue growth, as we have seen over the last several quarters." COWEN RAISES ITS PRICE TARGET ON ZNGA TO $4.50 from $4.25; ZNGA's up 1.1% to $3.66. ( sarah.needleman@wsj.com; @saraheneedleman )
