Activision Blizzard reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's estimates
The shares of Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) are down 1.3% at $76.75 in pre-market trading, after reporting third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's estimates. Additionally, the videogame maker is set to release a new "Call of Duty" game in mid-November, which prompted an upbeat holiday season forecast and at least two bull notes.
Specifically, Piper Sandler and Cowen and Company chimed in with price-target hikes up to $100 and $88, respectively. Analysts were already bullish on ATVI coming into today, with 19 out of the 22 calling it a "buy" or better. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $95.24 is a 22.5% premium to last night's close.
Today's negative price actions has the stock trading at its lowest level since Sept. 8, and the equity is facing pressure from its 120-day moving average for the first time since bottoming out below the $58 area during the broader market's mid-March pullback. Still, longer term, the equity is up 39.2% year-over-year.
However, the sentiment in the options pits is leaning bearish. Activision stock sports a 10-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) that sits higher than 97% of all other readings from the past year, implying a healthier-than-usual appetite for puts.