Activision Blizzard Inc.'s fourth-quarter profits beat forecasts but warned its first quarter may miss expectations.
In addition, the company said Vivendi SA, once its majority owner, may sell its remaining stake for about $856 million.
Santa Monica-based Activision(Nasdaq: ATVI), publisher of "Call of Duty" and other video games, said it earned $361 million, or 49 cents per share, for its fourth quarter, compared with $174 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago. Earnings excluding one-time items was 94 cents per share, which beat a Zacks Investment analyst survey forecasting 88 cents per share, according to the Associated Press.
Net revenue for the quarter rose to $1.58 billion from $1.52 billion in the year-earlier period. However, adjusted revenue for the quarter reached $2.21 billion, lower than the $2.24 billion expected by analysts.
Full-year earnings for 2014 reached $835 million, or $1.13 per share, compared with $1 billion, or 95 cents per share, in 2013 when there were more shares outstanding. Revenue for 2014 fell to $4.41 billion from $4.58 billion in 2013.
Activision also forecast a first-quarter profit of 5 cents per share on revenue of $640 million. That's below analysts' estimates of a first-quarter profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $775.7 million, according to Bloomberg.
Adjusted earnings for the full 2015 year are expected to be $1.15 per share on revenue of $4.4 billion, down from 2014's adjusted earnings of $1.42 per share on adjusted revenue of $4.81 billion.
"Given the significant weakening of foreign currencies versus the U.S. dollar, the company's 2015 international revenues and earnings are expected to be translated at much lower rates than in 2014," Activision said.
The company said it about 50 percent of its revenue and a higher percentage of profits are generated outside the United States.
Chief Financial Officer Dennis Durkin told analysts on a conference call that the company expected fewer product launches in the first part of the year, according to Bloomberg.
"In 2015 we expect a lighter first half of the year as compared to last year, as we don't have a comparable launch to the high-margin Diablo III we first sold and we only expect modest contributions from Call of Duty online and Heroes of the Storm," Durkin said.
Overall, Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick also said the company plans to increase the number of major titles this year.
"We expect to expand our franchise portfolio to 10 blockbusters, up from five franchises at the beginning of 2014," Kotick said in the statement.
Activision also said its board authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of stock through February 2017, and plans to repay $250 million of debt in the first quarter.
In addition, the company on Thursday renewed a shelf registration that allows Vivendi to sell its remaining 41.5 million shares, worth about $856 million.
Activision shares inched up 0.9 percent to $22.01 a share by Friday afternoon trading in New York.