There’s a big catalyst coming up this year for these 2 videogame stocks and it could push these stocks far higher.
We may have just exited the holiday season, but videogame companies are already looking ahead to the next one as a new generation of gaming consoles are being readied to hit the market.
“It’s positive headline noise,” said Jefferies analyst Alex Giaimo las month. “If you’re a gamer, if you drop $400 to $500 fora console, you’re obviously going to buy some games, too. It creates consumer demand.”
New consoles therefore are typically good news for videogame stocks, and one expert has his eye on two stocks in the space in particular.
Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey raised his price targets on two names this week: Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA).
Hickey said that the two names are among Benchmark’s top picks for this year. He raised his price target for Activision from $68 to $72—22% higher than the current price—and for EA from $129 to $137, or nearly 26% higher than where the stock is now.
The Benchmark analyst sees earnings and revenue growth for Activision through fiscal 2022, and says new consoles, online transactions in existing games, and a strong pipeline of games to be launched will drive the stock higher.
Hickey expects strong results from Activision’s Call of Duty: Mobile, which saw 100 million downloads in its first month alone, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Modern Warfare was Activision’s top selling digital opening ever, and has been outperforming the last two titles in the franchise in terms of sales.
And as for EA, Hickey believes management will raise its fiscal 2020 financial outlook when it reports fiscal Q3 earnings at the end of the month. He’s also expecting sales and earnings to beat EA’s outlook for the quarter, citing popular releases including Jedi: Fallen Order, Apex Legends Season 3, Need for Speed Heat, and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville.