Activision Blizzard Shares Jump - Upgraded Following Overwatch Switch Announcement

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Today has proven to be a strong start, with farther positive outlooks, for Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) following yesterday'south announcement of Overwatch coming to the Nintendo Switch. Having airtight yesterday (4th September) at $53.fifty, Activision is currently trading at $55.21 at the time of writing, a 2.5% increase.

In improver to this heave gained by the annunciation of Overwatch on the Nintendo Switch, the Blizzard section of Activision Blizzard has seen a boost through the uptake of Globe of Warcraft, particularly the new WOW Classic version of the game. Wednesday the 4th also saw a boost in share price from $51.06 to close at $53.fifty, with Johnson stating:

Early signs are encouraging, with initiatives in Globe of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Phone call of Duty showing progress. In fact, nosotros think the shares could potentially expand college than our target toll with a more than robust expansion of multiple in the well-nigh term if investors see amend signs of progress in its turnaround.

On the back of this recent success, the publisher has seen itself upgraded by a number of analysts. Gerrick Johnson of BMO Majuscule Markets upgraded Activision to outperform, raising the company's price target from $43 to $60. A number of analysts have followed conform in raising their price target, such as Stephens which has raised from $52 to $65. This is following an before reduction in May from $57 to $52.

This will brand for a much-needed heave to the company, post-obit the outlook for 2019 being disappointing, leading to a large number of layoffs within the company. The showtime quarter of the current financial yr did prove to exist positive, beating expectations, particularly on the dorsum of titles similar Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice that performed meliorate than expected, selling 2 meg copies in ten days.

With the constant success of Overwatch, now launching on the Nintendo Switch, too as World of Warcraft and upcoming titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warcraft 3 Remastered, Activision Blizzard certainly has a lot of potential, something the market at present appears to run across.