hot sector going into xmas
NPD: September Game Sales Soar 38% - GameDailyBiz 5.54 :GameDailyBiz is reporting that the NPD said video game sales for the month of September were $777 million, up an impressive 38 percent over 2005. Moreover, all categories (hardware, software, and accessories) realized 20 percent or greater gain. "Yes, I'd have to agree that it was a great—even fantastic—month for video games," remarked NPD Entertainment Industry Analyst Anita Frazier. The most growth, however, came within the hardware category, which was up more than 70 percent. The Nintendo DS continues to dominate, outselling not only other portables but also all consoles. During September the DS sold over 403K units compared to the PSP's 153K units. On the console side, the Xbox 360 sold over 259K units but was once again beaten by the aging PS2. Frazier added, "Of course the strong dollar sales performance is also significantly impacted by the Xbox 360 which now has a U.S. install base of nearly 2.7 million units. The PS2 continued to record very strong unit sales as well, selling over 300K units this month—and in fact, the best-selling video game year to date is the PS2 exclusive Kingdom Hearts II." Looking at software, THQ's (THQI) Saints Row for Xbox 360 took the top spot in dollar sales and there were strong contributions from LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Nintendo's Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (GBA and NDS). Overall 15 SKUs managed to sell over 100K units, which is in stark contrast to just 7 from September 2005. Frazier also thinks that much of the concern over the console transition has been overblown. (Briefing.com note: Co's impacted by this news -ERTS, ATVI, TTWO, THQI, ATAR, MSFT, SNE)
Color on September NPD Data :Piper Jaffray notes that total sales of video game software increased 29% during Sept to $446 mln. They note unit sales increased 27%, while ASPs increased 1% (Y/Y). Overall, Sept V.G. S.W. sales were very strong and exceeded the firm's expectations. They note THQI's Saints Row had a huge month with 455K units sold generating sales of $27 mln, and their confidence is building with respect to their ERTS and THQI Sept quarter sales ests. The firm's top investment picks include Activision (ATVI ) and Electronic Arts (ERTS ), owning to expected significant sales & earnings growth during the next three years... Susquehanna says as expected Sept 2006 NPD data was good, with ERTS's Madden and THQI's Saints Row (360) leading the way. Current-gen rev of $231 mln was in line with firm's expectations. On the back of Saints Row, Xbox 360 rev was strong. Five SKUs in the top ten were on Nintendo platforms, of which four were published by Nintendo. Firm believes the good Sept data indicates an upward bias to 2Q07E (ends Sept 2006) rev ests. These results do not change firm's rev outlook for 4Q06E. Firm is entering three months (4Q06E) of easy y/y comps for U.S. sell through. As noted in our Video Game Journal, ERTS, ATVI, and THQI should be able to exceed their rev ests for 4Q06E.
NPD: September Game Sales Soar 38% - GameDailyBiz 5.54 :GameDailyBiz is reporting that the NPD said video game sales for the month of September were $777 million, up an impressive 38 percent over 2005. Moreover, all categories (hardware, software, and accessories) realized 20 percent or greater gain. "Yes, I'd have to agree that it was a great—even fantastic—month for video games," remarked NPD Entertainment Industry Analyst Anita Frazier. The most growth, however, came within the hardware category, which was up more than 70 percent. The Nintendo DS continues to dominate, outselling not only other portables but also all consoles. During September the DS sold over 403K units compared to the PSP's 153K units. On the console side, the Xbox 360 sold over 259K units but was once again beaten by the aging PS2. Frazier added, "Of course the strong dollar sales performance is also significantly impacted by the Xbox 360 which now has a U.S. install base of nearly 2.7 million units. The PS2 continued to record very strong unit sales as well, selling over 300K units this month—and in fact, the best-selling video game year to date is the PS2 exclusive Kingdom Hearts II." Looking at software, THQ's (THQI) Saints Row for Xbox 360 took the top spot in dollar sales and there were strong contributions from LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Nintendo's Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (GBA and NDS). Overall 15 SKUs managed to sell over 100K units, which is in stark contrast to just 7 from September 2005. Frazier also thinks that much of the concern over the console transition has been overblown. (Briefing.com note: Co's impacted by this news -ERTS, ATVI, TTWO, THQI, ATAR, MSFT, SNE)
Color on September NPD Data :Piper Jaffray notes that total sales of video game software increased 29% during Sept to $446 mln. They note unit sales increased 27%, while ASPs increased 1% (Y/Y). Overall, Sept V.G. S.W. sales were very strong and exceeded the firm's expectations. They note THQI's Saints Row had a huge month with 455K units sold generating sales of $27 mln, and their confidence is building with respect to their ERTS and THQI Sept quarter sales ests. The firm's top investment picks include Activision (ATVI ) and Electronic Arts (ERTS ), owning to expected significant sales & earnings growth during the next three years... Susquehanna says as expected Sept 2006 NPD data was good, with ERTS's Madden and THQI's Saints Row (360) leading the way. Current-gen rev of $231 mln was in line with firm's expectations. On the back of Saints Row, Xbox 360 rev was strong. Five SKUs in the top ten were on Nintendo platforms, of which four were published by Nintendo. Firm believes the good Sept data indicates an upward bias to 2Q07E (ends Sept 2006) rev ests. These results do not change firm's rev outlook for 4Q06E. Firm is entering three months (4Q06E) of easy y/y comps for U.S. sell through. As noted in our Video Game Journal, ERTS, ATVI, and THQI should be able to exceed their rev ests for 4Q06E.
