TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC (NASDAQ:TTWO) stock rose 2.84% (As on August 9, 11:24:01 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company tops earnings estimates for the first quarter of FY 25. However, the company forecast second-quarter bookings below Wall Street expectations, a sign of sluggish spending on its popular titles such as “Grand Theft Auto” and “NBA 2K” in an uncertain economy.Net Bookings grew 1% year-over-year to $1.22 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $1.25 billion. Major contributors to net bookings were NBA 2K24, Grand Theft Auto Online, Grand Theft Auto V, Toon Blast, Empires & Puzzles, Match Factory!, Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online, Words With Friends, and Merge Dragons!.

TTWO in the first quarter of FY 25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 5 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 4 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 4 percent to $1.34 billion in the first quarter of FY 25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $1.24 billion.

Take-Two Interactive Software expects FY2025 revenue to be in the range of $5.57-5.67 billion, versus the consensus of $5.64 billion. The company expects bookings to be between $1.42 billion and $1.47 billion for the second quarter, while analysts on average estimate $1.47 billion, according to LSEG data.The downbeat projection highlights weakness in in-game spending on live-service titles as customers cut back on discretionary purchases amid a cost-of-living crisis and still-high inflation. It, however, expects to see sequential growth in its net bookings in fiscals 2026 and 2027. The largest contributors to Net Bookings are expected to be NBA 2K, the Grand Theft Auto series, Toon Blast, the hyper-casual mobile portfolio, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, the Red Dead Redemption series, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, and Words with Friends. “Grand Theft Auto” is one of Take-Two’s most popular properties, with the franchise having accumulated billions of dollars in revenue since its inception in the late-nineties. The company forecast the geographic Net Bookings split to be about 60% United States and 40% International. The company in May narrowed the release window for the highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto VI” to fall of 2025, setting the stage for the launch of the next installment of one of the most popular video game franchises in the world. The company now expects Non-GAAP Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow to be an outflow of $150 million, and the company plans to deploy approximately $140 million of capital expenditures, primarily for game technology and office buildouts.