Activision Blizzard (ATVI) Expands Partnership With SCUF Gaming

Activision Blizzard’s ATVI Call of Duty League (CDL) recently announced that it has extended its partnership by two years with its long-standing partner, SCUF Gaming.

Atlanta-based SCUF Gaming is a global innovator and creator of high-performance and customized gaming controllers and accessories.

Per the deal, SCUF Gaming will remain the official controller of the Call of Duty League. This is the third year SCUF partnered with Call of Duty League as an exclusive controller and controller accessory partner.

As a part of the partnership, SCUF Gaming will be activating at all live-in person League-hosted events, offering gamers and fans the chance to experience their controllers firsthand.

SCUF will also showcase the official Call of Duty League controllers, featuring team colors and logos. The collection will feature 12 uniquely designed controllers, one for each team in Call of Duty League, providing players with the opportunity to represent their favorite teams in the game.

The collection is available on three SCUF controllers — the SCUF Infinity 4PS Pro, SCUF Impact and SCUF Instinct — which will soon be available on the SCUF Reflex.

Activision Blizzard, Inc Price and Consensus

Activision Blizzard, Inc price-consensus-chart | Activision Blizzard, Inc Quote

Portfolio Expansion Plans To Drive Top Line

Activision’s top line benefited from an expanding user base of its popular franchises, including Call of Duty, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush franchises.

In the last reported December quarter, overall Monthly Active Users (MAUs) were 397 million, up 7% year over year.

Activision Blizzard’s net bookings declined 18.5% year over year to $2.49 billion. In-game net bookings were $1.24 billion, down 6.3% year over year. The growing popularity is expected to boost the company’s in-game spending, thereby driving net booking in the near term.

Call of Duty net bookings on console and PC declined year over year in the fourth quarter, reflecting lower premium sales for Call of Duty: Vanguard versus the year-ago title and lower engagement in Call of Duty: Warzone.

Fourth-quarter in-game player investment on consoles and PC remained well above the level seen before the March 2020 launch of Warzone.

Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew year-over-year in the fourth quarter, driven by continued contribution from the game in China. In 2021, Call of Duty Mobile net bookings grew strongly, with 2021 worldwide consumer spending on the title exceeding $1 billion.

King’s in-game net bookings grew 14% year over year to a new record in the fourth quarter, driven by 20% year-over-year growth for Candy Crush.

However, Activision’s studio expansion plans have continued to add development resources worldwide. The company has further planned to continue ongoing live operations and new, unannounced titles in the Call of Duty universe.

Furthermore, the company has an exciting pipeline of content planned for 2022. Activision expects to drive renewed expansion in the Call of Duty franchise later in the year with groundbreaking all-new experiences. Blizzard is planning substantial new content for key franchises, and King expects to build on its momentum with further innovative live operations across its portfolio.

In March 2022, Activision’s Call of Duty League, the official esports league of the Call of Duty franchise, joined forces with Aim Lab as the official first-person training sponsor and the presenting sponsor of the Call of Duty Challengers Scouting Series.

Zacks Rank And Stocks To Consider

Activision Blizzard currently holds a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Activision Blizzard shares have returned 19.6% in the year-to-date period compared with the Zacks Toys - Games - Hobbies industry’s return of 0.6% and the Consumer Discretionary sector’s fall of 15.7%.

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are Academy Sports and Outdoors ASO, Target Hospitality TH, and Funko FNKO, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Academy Sports and Outdoors have declined 10.8% compared with the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Products industry’s decrease of 28.1% and the Consumer Discretionary sector’s fall of 15.7% in the year-to-date period.

Funko’s shares have declined 7.3% compared with the Zacks Consumer Products - Discretionary industry’s fall of 26.5% and the Consumer Discretionary sector’s drop of 15.7% in the year-to-date period.

The Target Hospitality stock has surged 64.1% against the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry’s decline of 12.2% and the Consumer Discretionary sector’s fall of 15.7% in the year-to-date period.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.