Latest quarterly shows net income and adjusted earnings in decline
San Francisco-based social gaming giant Zynga is apparently still struggling to come to grips with its slots and poker offerings, judging by its latest Q3-2018 filing released Wednesday, which highlights:
- Social slots and poker facing a challenging environment;
- Overall revenue up 4 percent y-o-y at $233.2 million;
- Sales of virtual goods up 17 percent at $249 million;
- Adjusted earnings down 15 percent at $38 million;
- Net income down 44 percent at $10.2 million;
- The company accrued advertising revenue up 41 percent at a record $65.4 million or 28 percent of overall revenue;
- Daily active users were up 8 percent at 22 million, with daily sales per player on average up 8 percent;
- Despite the above, daily player conversion rates from playing to paying declined from 2.4 percent in the corresponding period last year to 2 percent this year;
- A late starter and bloomer in mobile, Zynga reported that in Q3-2018, mobile delivered 91 percent of overall revenues – a rise of 4 percent y-o-y, with mobile sales up 92 percent – up 5 percent;
- Mobile advertising also delivered impressive growth, rising 45 percent y-o-y;
- Non-gambling games produced most of Zynga’s action, but social slots saw revenue fall 9 percent y-o-y and sales decline 4 percent. Future plans to offer Game of Thrones slots through an agreement with HBO may be a kick starter in this sector when released via Zynga mobile slots in the third quarter of 2019;
- Zynga Poker mobile revenue shrank 3 percent y-o-y on flat sales, The vertical’s share of online game revenue fell 2 percent to 20 percent y-o-y as sales fell 5 percent to 19 percent of overall sales.
Management reported that the product is still building momentum following a platform change effected in the second quarter by Facebook, but is hoping that a partnership deal with World Poker Tour will help. Estimated overall revenue in Q4-2018 should be circa $235 million, with adjusted earnings of $32 million, making for an overall net loss of $2 million.