Take Two (TTWO) 21Q1 Earnings Beat Analysis

Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO) surprised the street (and us) last week, reporting stronger than expected top and bottom-line results for the quarter ended March 31st (21Q4). The company cited that over half of its net bookings came from strong demand for existing titles, which we're seeing play out in the underlying Mentions Although Total Mentions for the perennial “Grand Theft Auto” franchise were -22% YoY in the reporting quarter, Gameplay Mentions for the still-active (and lucrative) 'Grand Theft Auto Online' were trending +30% YoY at EOQ (90-day moving average).

Game developers' growing focus on leveraging recurrent revenue streams (microtransactions) makes predicting sales growth less straightforward, but we're prepared to take a more granular approach going forward.