FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Take-Two GTA Release Date to Be Investor Focus at Upcoming Earnings Call, Wedbush Says

By
Take-Two GTA Release Date to Be Investor Focus at Upcoming Earnings Call, Wedbush Says

Take-Two Interactive Software's (TTWO) potential update on the "Grand Theft Auto VI" launch date will be a key focus for investors at the video game maker's upcoming earnings call, Wedbush Securities said Friday.

The company is scheduled to release its financial results on May 21, with a conference call scheduled on the same day.

"The call itself is what matters," Wedbush analysts, including Alicia Reese, wrote in a client note. "This is the moment investors will know whether GTA VI is still on track for its Nov. 19 release."

In November last year, Take-Two Interactive and its subsidiary, Rockstar, announced a further delay to the game, setting the release date at Nov. 19 this year.

In February, the brokerage said there was a 75% probability that Take-Two will launch GTA VI in November, although its Rockstar subsidiary has a history of announcing major delays about six months ahead of the release. "If management doesn't push the date on this call, we move our odds to (greater than 90%) that November holds," Reese wrote on Friday.

Wedbush cited a leaked email from electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) sent to its affiliate marketing partners that pre-orders for GTA VI could go live at any point next week. The exact dates could still change, while Rockstar could push the trailer and pre-order release by a week or two to "retake control of the announcement," the brokerage said.

"In either scenario, we'd expect a new trailer and pre-order announcement within the month," Reese said.

Wedbush estimates Take-Two to report fourth-quarter bookings of $1.56 billion, at the high end of the company's outlook range, with a chance to exceed expectations due to strength in mobile.

Wedbush maintained its outperform rating on Take-Two's stock and 12-month price target of $300.

Price: $243.19, Change: $+0.78, Percent Change: +0.32%

Related Articles

Dai-ichi Life's Fiscal 2025 Profit Slides on One-Off Accounting Revision
US Markets

Dai-ichi Life's Fiscal 2025 Profit Slides on One-Off Accounting Revision

Dai-ichi Life's (TYO:8750) attributable profit fell in fiscal 2025 on the one-off impact of new accounting standards in the U.S. by unit Protective Life.The Japanese insurance group logged an attributable profit of 436.6 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, down 4.8% from 458.4 billion yen a year earlier.Diluted net income per share slipped to 119.82 yen from 123.70 yen a year earlier.U.S. unit Protective Life adopted the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) Long-Duration Targeted Improvements, resulting in a one-off impact of 53.1 billion yen.The insurer's ordinary revenue increased 15% to 11.3 trillion yen from 9.877 trillion yen in the prior-year period.Premiums and other income grew 2.1% year over year to 6.944 trillion yen due to higher sales at the Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance business.Investment income surged 48% to 3.735 trillion yen, and other ordinary revenue jumped 15% to 628.8 billion yen.Ordinary expenses jumped 16% to 10.6 billion yen, with policy reserves surging 431% to 1.815 trillion yen.Benefits and claims slipped 2% year over year to 6.447 trillion yen.The insurer will pay out a final dividend of 30.50 yen per share, making the total dividend payout for fiscal 2025 54.50 yen, lower than the 137 yen per share paid out in the previous fiscal year.For the fiscal year through March 31, 2027, attributable profit could rise 18% to 513 billion yen, or 142.46 yen per share, in line with its 4-for-1 stock split completed in April 2025.Revenue may slide 5.7% to 10.7 trillion yen, while ordinary profit could jump 15% to 869 billion yen.The insurer could pay a dividend of 72 yen in fiscal 2026.

$TYO:8750
Stocks Fall Pre-Bell as Traders Weigh Trump-Xi Meeting Outcomes
US Markets

Stocks Fall Pre-Bell as Traders Weigh Trump-Xi Meeting Outcomes

The benchmark US stock measures were tracking in the red before the open Friday as traders evaluate the outcomes of President Donald Trump's high-stakes meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.The S&P 500 declined 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.8% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.7% in premarket activity. The indexes finished the previous trading session up, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq logging record closing highs for the second straight day.Trump reportedly concluded his two-day visit to Beijing on Friday after holding policy discussions with Xi on trade, tariffs and technology, among other matters. In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News, Trump said China has agreed to purchase oil from the US, CNBC reported."They've agreed they want to buy oil from the US," Trump reportedly said. "They're going to go to Texas, we're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska."China hasn't confirmed the energy purchases, according to the CNBC report.West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 3.4% to $104.56 a barrel before the opening bell, while Brent was up 2.7% to $108.61.Trump said he and Xi agreed during their meeting that Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon and that the crucial Strait of Hormuz should reopen, Bloomberg News reported. The Trump administration has reportedly signaled its interest in getting China's help to push Iran into talks to end the conflict in the Middle East, but Beijing remains cautious."The market could be pinning too much hope on the US-China talks yielding some positive results on Iran," ING Bank said in a note on Thursday. "Some hope that China could exert pressure on Iran to reach a deal with the US, to end the war and lead to a resumption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz."Treasury yields were trending higher in premarket action, with the two-year rate increasing 6.2 basis points to 4.05% and the 10-year rate adding 8.1 basis points to 4.54%.Friday's economic calendar has the Empire State manufacturing index for May at 8:30 am ET, followed by the industrial production report for April at 9:15 am. The weekly Baker Hughes oil-and-gas rig count is out at 1 pm.US retail sales in April rose for the third straight month, with analysts saying the increase largely reflected higher prices as the war in Iran kept fuel costs elevated.Inflation has become the "most pressing risk" to the US economy, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid said Thursday."While inflation has moderated significantly from its peak, in my discussions with business leaders across the Tenth District, it is clear that it is still too high," Schmid said in prepared remarks for a conference.Applied Materials (AMAT) shares fell 3.2% pre-bell, even though the semiconductor equipment maker reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results.Gold slipped 2.8% to $4,556 per troy ounce, while bitcoin moved down 0.9% to $80,741.

$^DJI$^IXIC$^SPX$AMAT
Applied Materials to Outperform Wafer Fab Equipment Market Amid Strong Tailwinds, Morgan Stanley Says
US Markets

Applied Materials to Outperform Wafer Fab Equipment Market Amid Strong Tailwinds, Morgan Stanley Says

Applied Materials (AMAT) is expected to outperform the wafer fabrication equipment market by double-digit percentage points amid strong tailwinds, including memory demand, Morgan Stanley said in a note emailed toon Friday.The semiconductor equipment maker late Thursday posted per-share adjusted earnings of $2.86 for the quarter ended April 26, up from $2.39 a year ago, while revenue advanced 11% to $7.91 billion. Both metrics topped Wall Street's estimates.Morgan Stanley projects the firm to outperform the wafer fabrication equipment market by more than 10 percentage points, implying its "strongest" relative performance since 2020, when it outgrew the industry by 14 percentage points."The company is benefiting from strong tailwinds, including incremental 3nm wafer additions and unprecedented (dynamic random access memory) greenfield activity, while also demonstrating the ability to execute and meet expedite requests," Morgan Stanley wrote in its note.Morgan Stanley believes leading-edge foundry logic, DRAM and advanced packaging will account for more than 80% of annual growth in wafer fabrication equipment spending, and expects these categories to continue driving gains on an absolute dollar basis. However, the focus could shift to how well the company is positioned to capture the next wave of chip spending into 2027, the note added.Shares of the firm were down 3.9% in Friday's most recent premarket activity."While our preliminary 2027 forecast assumes AMAT grows broadly in line with WFE, the company's execution so far in 2026 is pushing us to look for more reasons to be incrementally positive rather than negative," Morgan Stanley said.During a late Thursday earnings call with analysts, Chief Executive Gary Dickerson said the company now anticipates its semiconductor equipment business to grow more than 30% this calendar year. Previously, the company expected a gain of over 20%."Given the unprecedented demand environment, we are working closely with our customers on longer-range planning," Dickerson said on the call, according to a FactSet transcript. "With this improved visibility, we see continued growth across this extended planning horizon, into 2027 and beyond, and we are investing to support our customers' expansion plans."For the ongoing quarter, Applied Materials expects adjusted EPS of $3.36 a share, plus or minus $0.20. Revenue is pegged at $8.95 billion, plus or minus $500 million. The Street is looking for non-GAAP EPS of $3.18 and sales of $8.62 billion.Morgan Stanley lifted its price target on Applied Materials to $502 from $454 with an overweight rating on the stock.

$AMAT