Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) released the earnings results from its first quarter, losses of 1 cent per share, excluding items, on revenue of $161 million for the March quarter. Analysts were expecting the company to post losses of 1 cent per share on revenue of $163.4 million. Diluted net losses were 7 cents per share.
Breaking down Zynga’s results
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) reported $161 million in bookings and adjusted EBITDA of $14 million, which beat the company’s previous guidance range. The game maker posted 11% growth in mobile audience quarter over quarter across monthly active users and 10% across daily active users, excluding the acquisition of NaturalMotion.
Investors and analysts wanted to see improvements in and user growth, the company did deliver—for the first time in a couple of years. The game maker has been battling declining revenues, users and bookings, and many had expected that numbers will continue to fall, not counting impacts from Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s acquisition of NaturalMotion. That acquisition was completed during the March quarter.
“For the first time in two years, our teams delivered sequential growth across our key performance metrics including bookings, Adjusted EBITDA, mobile bookings mix and audience,” said CEO Don Mattrick in a statement. “We believe these indicators demonstrate our strategy is working and the focus, rigor and discipline of our teams is showing up in our results.”
Updates on Zynga’s games
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) reported that its Poker game saw quarterly growth for the first time in 7 quarters as its mobile audience increased 19%. The Words with Friends franchise grew its monthly audience 8% and daily active users 9% sequentially. Bookings for the game grew 43% year over year. The game maker also reported that it expanded its free-to-play social slots product portfolio by launching Riches of Olympus on iOS.
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) unveiled a new Farmville game for iOS and Android users earlier this month. The game maker must make a successful transition to mobile gaming, and the company is hoping this will be the first big step in that process.
Zynga guides ahead
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) projects that revenue for the second quarter will be between $140 million and $160 million. It projects net losses of between $75 million and $65 million and diluted net loss per share between 8 cents and 7 cents per share. The game maker expects bookings to be between $175 million and $195 million and adjusted EBITDA between $10 million and $20 million. Non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be between flat and 1 cent per share.
For the full year, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) expects bookings between $770 million and $810 million, adjusted EBITDA of between $70 million and $100 million and non-GAAP earnings per share between 1 cent and 3 cents per share.
