San Francisco Haute 100 Update (Haute Living)
It is no secret that Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has been losing top executives since last year. Now, CEO Mark Pincus is implementing a bold strategy to hold on to his executive leadership team, with new pay schemes that effectively double the salaries of many key executives. Bonuses will now be tied to performance, increasing maximum payout potential for the top brass. In addition, Pincus has followed in the steps of Silicon Valley CEOs like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Larry Page by reducing his annual salary to $1 and making himself ineligible for the new executive bonuses. It’s been a rough year of changes for Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), which posted massive losses in 2012. Zynga has bled key talent lately, including the recent loss of Dan Porter, CEO of Draw Something developer OMGPOP.
There is no denying that its been a roller-coaster for Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) for bulls and bears alike as the shorts have clearly been losers since the start of the year while the bulls were loosers for most of last year. So what direction is Zynga heading in now? On Tuesday, Piper Jaffray issued a research note to say that while it remains cautious on Zynga’s recovery, they are increasingly optimistic over the near-term after channel checks indicated stability in the company’s core business and traction with mobile launches. For that reason, Piper Jaffray raised its price target for Zynga shares from $2.75 to to $3.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the stock.
Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) Up 0.96% on a Slight Rally, Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) Down 3.09% (GSPInsider)
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is trading down 3.09% after starting the day’s trading at 3.31, 0.09 cents below its previous close of 3.40. The stock has a range of 3.25 and 3.33 and current valuation means ZNGA is trading 59.33% above its 52-week low of 2.09 but 53.62% below its 52-week high of 7.18. Volume in early morning trading is 4.739 million, a way off from average volume of 29.743 million. Investors have been bullish on Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) in the last few trading sessions. The stock has modest but consistent climbs in the last five days: +0.30% on May 17; +0.59% on May 20, and +1.47% on May 21, 2013.
A Sip Of The Zynga Kool-Aid (Seeking Alpha)
Online social game developer Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) surprised investors with a penny profit per share in the March 2013 quarter. For those who are not closely familiar with Zynga’s financial performance, since the company went public in 2008, it has delivered annual net losses in all but one year. Such profit news usually triggered celebration in the investment community and floated public company shares to record levels. Unfortunately, that penny was not enough to smooth brows furrowed over Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s weakening sales and mushrooming competition for the consumer ‘mindshare’ not to mention consumers wallets. Indeed revenue in the March 2013 quarter declined 18% compared with the same quarter last year – a steep decline in fortunes for a company that had experienced meteoric increases in previous years.
Zynga (ZNGA) – Market Digest (AVAFIN)
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) options contracts experienced a new 90-day record for call contracts where a total of 24,343 call contracts were traded in the busy trading session. The contract spread yielded a 0.21 put/call ratio where 4.9 call contracts were traded for each put contract. The skewed options ratio suggests that traders are re-balancing their portfolios in anticipation of a price shift. Unusual volume activity directly reflects investor outlook and confirms that a stock move is imminent.
