Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is a potential growth story. But just because there’s potential doesn’t mean investors should ignore the execution of key strategies by management.
How to play this game
Source: Zynga
The company’s daily-active-user and monthly-active-user figures continued to trend lower going into the second quarter of 2013. That means its social gaming strategy model has to change. When games like Farmville and Mafia Wars first appeared, the idea was to offer in-game incentives to players for inviting their friends. Regardless, if a game stinks, people will stop playing.
New CEO and change in direction
The good news is that we have one of the most talented executives in Silicon Valley running the company. The new CEO is Don Mattrick, and I’m impressed by what he may be able to bring to the table. According to the conference call, Mattrick set up a desk in the middle of the game development studio. And that’s so he can track the productivity and performance of his employees. This isn’t completely out of the ordinary; even Steve Jobs was known to frequently check up on his research and development teams.
Source: Statista
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) believes it can and will have titles in the top 10. The top gaming franchise is currently Candy Crush Saga. Unlike Zynga’s model of having users buy success, the Candy Crush Saga pushes players to buy expansion packs within the game. If a gamer wants to advance to the next level, he has to pay with real loot.
The monetization of mobile gaming should be taken seriously. If Candy Crush is able to sustain its current trend then the game could potentially generate $231 million in revenue per year, according to Business Insider.
The good news
So here’s the good news for Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). The company has approximately $2.3 billion in assets and $493 million in liabilities. So it has plenty of cash to plow into game development.
Don Mattrick does have a lot of experience developing game franchises around consoles and PC’s. So it shouldn’t be too difficult to move away from social gaming and ramp up development of multi-platform games that could work on both consoles and mobile devices.
Until the company is able to generate revenue growth and launch top franchises for Android and iOS, I would temper expectations. On the upside, it still has a revenue stream from its existing franchises along with plenty of ammunition to change the direction of the company.
Mobile gaming is an opportunity
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has been able to grow its mobile segment by 64% year-over-year. The problem has been that console video game sales have been down for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The console refresh will have a temporary effect on earnings, but for the most part, analysts are starting to warm up to gaming companies.
Source: Electronic Arts
