: Activision Blizzard’s Q1 earnings blow past estimates

Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI, which is down 11% after the U.K. competition authority said it would not allow Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of the gaming company, published its first-quarter earnings at day early on Wednesday. The company posted net income of $740 million, or 93 cents a share, for the quarter, up from 395 million, or 50 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.09, well ahead of the 51 cent FactSet consensus. Revenue rose to $2.383 billion from $1.768 billion a year ago, and was also comfortably ahead of the $1.771 billion FactSet consensus. The company’s “Call of Duty” game again drove growth. Net bookings rose 25% in the quarter, while mobile net bookings were up by a double-digit amount.

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