Activision-Blizzard stock falls
by Mike Schramm 
Jan 8th 2009 at 2:00PM
What's going on at Activision-Blizzard? Yesterday, their stock fell back down to the lowest its been since November of 2006. Even coming off of huge sales last year (they run the Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and obviously Blizzard's World of Warcraft franchises, all of which had banner years in 2008), the stock price fell 6.5% yesterday, compared to a high in the last year of $19.28.It's not Wrath -- the game's been selling like gold encrusted hotcakes since launch. There could be an upcoming shakeup in Activision's leadership (is Bobby K on his way out?), or it could just be that as well as Activision did this past year, the rough economy is hitting them hard, too.
At any rate, this will likely be just a bump in the road -- Activision is poised to become (if they haven't already) the biggest publisher in the game, and as you can see from this graph on their website, the stock is already back up above $9. We don't know what the reason is for this quick drop, but everything else we've seen points to a bright future for Activision-Blizzard.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items, Making money, Wrath of the Lich King
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
msingletary Jan 8th 2009 2:06PM
Stocks drop and go back up, as this one did. Is this really news? It's kind of how the market works, especially during a recession. Oh, and sometimes they drop and don't go back up or they go up and don't go back down. It's pretty neat!
crimson090 Jan 8th 2009 2:20PM
I have to agree. There are a million reasons why stocks fluctuate day to day. Sorry, but unless you are going into the fundamental and technical details on the stock (which wouldn't belong on WoW Insider anyway), I don't really see the point of a post like this.
Wakleon Jan 9th 2009 7:46PM
Yeah, all stocks are fluctuating more than ever. A stock can go $5 sometimes $10 and even more for larger stocks both ways in a single day. And besides, Activision Blizzard's stock is mostly affected by Activision. While yes, every single on of Blizzard's titles had been huge, Activision has a much larger impact on the company than Blizzard does. Activision is a much bigger company than Blizzard and so despite Blizzard's huge success Activison still has a lot of ground to make up.
Ugg Jan 8th 2009 2:11PM
This is a really bad case of trying to stretch something into news I have ever seen. The fact that the writer himself declares that it is back to normal later in the post blows my mind.
If you had written this yesterday when it happened, it'd be news. Otherwise, it just looks like you are trying to raise your word count.
Naix Jan 8th 2009 2:12PM
The investors just got word on the new hero bard class.
Halokon Jan 8th 2009 2:16PM
TEH NOES! MOMENTARY DROP IN SHARE VALUE!
It then goes up to a local high point...
Slow news day?
Maynza Jan 8th 2009 2:16PM
This just in, stocks fluctuate during daily trading.
Max Jan 8th 2009 3:31PM
lol.
Loiacono Jan 8th 2009 2:18PM
What's happening to Activision is happening across almost every sector of the world economy.
It's a recession. Regardless of how well companies are performing on individual products, stockholders are pulling their money out for a lack of confidence in the economy in general and burying it in their back yards.
It'll pass.
Harmun Jan 8th 2009 4:45PM
Actually they're holding their valuation better than most in the tech sector.
Boogs Jan 8th 2009 2:19PM
Obviously some brokers went to put a buy in for their Authenticators but used the wrong browser tab. Silly brokers.
corvaal Jan 8th 2009 2:21PM
I think someone ninja'ed some of the investor's loot that's what caused the drop :)
Oneiroi Jan 8th 2009 2:24PM
I mean, the whole market has repeatedly been crashing. It has to eventually affect most industries.
Marc Sadowski Jan 8th 2009 2:27PM
All the stocks suffered yesterday on the news that Holiday shopping was down.
Stephen Jan 8th 2009 4:58PM
Yup. It was the retail sales reports. Activision didn't have the same strong holiday sales figures in 2008 as they did in 2007.
Damn, I wish I had a buy order in. Everyone and their brother added positive ratings to the stock and it jumped back up 11%.
Rich Jan 8th 2009 2:33PM
might be the worst post since I started viewing this site...just garbage, fluff, etc...
Ahoni Jan 8th 2009 2:35PM
The stock went down. So?
This affects me how?
I read WoWInsider for WoW news, not stock quotes.
Slow news day FTL
Shulkman Jan 8th 2009 2:36PM
Three words...
Stockbrokers play warlocks.
Jay Jan 8th 2009 2:36PM
Maybe Mike just wanted to post a picture of a graph.
Wavemancali Jan 8th 2009 2:43PM
Seriously, a blogger with I am guessing little to no financial experience are saying that the future of Blizzard/Activision looks bright?
Honestly, stick to topics that you have some education or experience about.
A blog post like this makes you look like a complete idiot.