ATVI - Activision shares edge upward as bookings show more strength

Activision Blizzard ( NASDAQ: ATVI ) shares edged into positive territory in after-hours trading Monday after the videogame publisher reported strong growth in bookings as more drama emerged regarding its potential acquisition by Microsoft ( MSFT ).

Activision ( ATVI ) said that for the quarter ending December 31, it reported bookings of $3.57B, up from $2.49B in the fourth quarter of 2021. Wall Street analysts had expected Activision ( ATVI ) to report bookings of $3.08B. For videogame publishers such as Activision ( ATVI ) order bookings are seen as a key measure of a company's business health.

The company also reported earnings of $1.87 a share, excluding one-time items, compared earnings of $1.25 a share in the prior-year period.

Activision ( ATVI ) said it had 389M monthly active users during the quarter, up from 371M such users a year ago.

The latest version of the company's bellwether title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II , was one of Activision's ( ATVI ) highlights of the quarter, as the company said the game had "the highest-opening sell through" in history of the franchise.

Activision ( ATVI ) has been in the process of being acquired by Microsoft ( MSFT ) in an all-cash deal worth $69B. The company said it had no further details to about the deal, other than the plan is for the deal to close by the end of Microsoft's ( MSFT ) current fiscal year in June.

However, on Monday, Activision ( ATVI ) shares fell almost 5% on a report that Microsoft ( MSFT ) expected the United Kingdom's antitrust regulator to opposed the acquisition .

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