Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports Results for Fiscal Second Quarter 2024

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today reported results for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2024, ended September 30, 2023. For further information, please see the second quarter fiscal 2024 results slide deck posted to the Company’s investor relations website at take2games.com/ir.

Management Comments

“Our strong second quarter results, including Net Bookings of $1.4 billion, underscore the strength of our portfolio of iconic, industry-leading intellectual properties. During the period, our teams released new offerings, delivered engaging post-launch content, and advanced further the development of our eagerly-anticipated pipeline,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two.

“While we expect continued macroeconomic uncertainty, we believe that we are well positioned for the holiday season and are reiterating our fiscal 2024 Net Bookings guidance of $5.45 to $5.55 billion.”

“Looking ahead, I am optimistic about our Company’s multi-year growth trajectory and our ability to deliver long-term value for our shareholders. Our development pipeline is robust and diverse, and we are getting closer to delivering the groundbreaking titles that our audiences throughout the world have been anticipating. With an unwavering commitment to being the most creative, the most innovative, and the most efficient entertainment company, I have great confidence that our offerings will surpass our players’ expectations and set new standards of creative excellence in our industry.”

Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Financial and Operational Highlights

• Total Net Bookings* decreased 4% to $1.44 billion, as compared to $1.50 billion during last year’s fiscal second quarter.
  • Net Bookings from recurrent consumer spending** decreased 7% and accounted for 78% of total Net Bookings.

  • The largest contributors to Net Bookings were NBA® 2K24 and NBA 2K23, Grand Theft Auto® Online and Grand Theft Auto V, our hyper-casual mobile portfolio, Empires & Puzzles™, Toon Blast™, Red Dead Redemption® 2 and Red Dead Online, Words With Friends™, Merge Dragons!™, and Zynga Poker™.

• GAAP net revenue decreased 7% to $1.30 billion, as compared to $1.39 billion in last year’s fiscal second quarter.
  • Recurrent consumer spending** decreased 9% and accounted for 77% of total GAAP net revenue.

  • The largest contributors to GAAP net revenue were NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K24, Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, our hyper-casual mobile portfolio, Empires & Puzzles, Toon Blast, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online, Merge Dragons!, Words With Friends, and Zynga Poker.

• GAAP net loss was $543.6 million, or $3.20 per share, as compared to $257.0 million, or $1.54 per share, for the comparable period last year.

• Our GAAP results include impairment charges of (i) $219.7 million related to intangible assets and (ii) $165.4 million, related to goodwill, representing a partial impairment of one of our reporting units.

* Net Bookings is our operational metric and defined as the net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically during the period, and includes licensing fees, merchandise, in-game advertising, strategy guides and publisher incentives. 

** Recurrent consumer spending is generated from ongoing consumer engagement and includes virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases and in-game advertising.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2024 Financial Results

The following data is used internally by the Company’s management and Board of Directors to adjust the Company’s GAAP and Non-GAAP financial results in order to facilitate comparison of its operating performance between periods and to better understand its core business and future outlook:

Note: For management reporting purposes, the table above assumes a management tax rate of 18% and a fully diluted share count of 172.1 million in order to calculate net income per diluted share.

^(a) Other includes adjustments for (i) the revaluation of the Turkish Lira against the U.S. Dollar, (ii) business reorganization expenses, and (iii) fair value adjustments related to certain equity investments.

Outlook for Fiscal 2024

Take-Two is revising its outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 and is providing its initial outlook for its fiscal third quarter ending December 31, 2023:

Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2024

The Company is also providing selected data, which is used internally by its management and Board of Directors to adjust the Company’s GAAP and Non-GAAP financial outlook in order to facilitate comparison of its operating performance between periods and to better understand its core business and future outlook:

• Management reporting tax rate anticipated to be 18%

• Share count used to calculate GAAP net loss per share is expected to be 170.1 million

• Share count used to calculate management reporting diluted net income per share is expected to be 172.2 million

^(a) Other includes adjustments for (i) the revaluation of the Turkish Lira against the U.S. Dollar, (ii) business reorganization expenses, and (iii) fair value adjustments related to certain equity investments.

Third Quarter Ending December 31, 2023

The Company is also providing selected data, which is used internally by its management and Board of Directors to adjust the Company’s GAAP and Non-GAAP financial outlook in order to facilitate comparison of its operating performance between periods and to better understand its core business and future outlook:

• Management reporting tax rate anticipated to be 18%

• Share count used to calculate GAAP net loss per share is expected to be 170.3 million

• Share count used to calculate management reporting diluted net income per share is expected to be 172.4 million

1) The individual components of the financial outlook may not foot to the totals, as the Company does not expect actual results for every component to be at the low end or high end of the outlook range simultaneously.

Key assumptions and dependencies underlying the Company’s outlook include: a continuation of the current economic backdrop; the timely delivery of the titles included in this financial outlook; continued growth in the installed base of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, as well as engagement on Xbox One and PlayStation 4; the ability to develop and publish products that capture market share for these current generation systems while also leveraging opportunities on PC, mobile and other platforms; factors affecting our performance on mobile, such as player acquisition costs; our ongoing focus on our live services portfolio and new game pipeline; and stable foreign exchange rates. See also “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements” below.

Product Releases

The following have been released since July 1, 2023:

Take-Two’s future lineup announced to-date includes:

Conference Call

Take-Two will host a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to review these results and discuss other topics. The call can be accessed by dialing (877) 407-0984 or (201) 689-8577. A live listen-only webcast of the call will be available by visiting http://ir.take2games.com and a replay will be available following the call at the same location.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the Company uses Non-GAAP measures of financial performance: Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow, which is defined as GAAP net cash from operating activities, adjusted for changes in restricted cash, and EBITDA, which is defined as GAAP net income (loss) excluding interest income (expense), provision for (benefit from) income taxes, depreciation expense, and amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles.

The Company’s management believes it is important to consider Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow, in addition to net cash from operating activities, as it provides more transparency into current business trends without regard to the timing of payments from restricted cash, which is primarily related to a dedicated account limited to the payment of certain internal royalty obligations.

The Company’s management believes it is important to consider EBITDA, in addition to net income, as it removes the effect of certain non-cash expenses, debt-related charges, and income taxes. Management believes that, when considered together with reported amounts, EBITDA is useful to investors and management in understanding the Company’s ongoing operations and in analysis of ongoing operating trends and provides useful additional information relating to the Company’s operations and financial condition.

These Non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, GAAP results. These Non-GAAP financial measures may be different from similarly titled measures used by other companies. In the future, Take-Two may also consider whether other items should also be excluded in calculating these Non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company. Management believes that the presentation of these Non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with additional useful information to measure Take-Two’s financial and operating performance. In particular, these measures facilitate comparison of our operating performance between periods and may help investors to understand better the operating results of Take-Two. Internally, management uses these Non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the Company’s operating results and in planning and forecasting. A reconciliation of these Non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measure is contained in the financial tables to this press release.

Final Results

The financial results discussed herein are presented on a preliminary basis; final data will be included in Take-Two’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2023.

About Take-Two Interactive Software

Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a leading developer, publisher, and marketer of interactive entertainment for consumers around the globe. We develop and publish products principally through Rockstar Games, 2K, Private Division, and Zynga. Our products are designed for console gaming systems, PC, and mobile, including smartphones and tablets. We deliver our products through physical retail, digital download, online platforms, and cloud streaming services. The Company’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at http://www.take2games.com.

All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, including statements relating to Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.’s (“Take-Two,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or similar pronouns) outlook, are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws and may be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,” or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the outlook for our future business and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to them, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may vary materially from these forward-looking statements based on a variety of risks and uncertainties including risks relating to our combination with Zynga Inc.; the risks of conducting business internationally, including as a result of unforeseen geopolitical events; the impact of changes in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, including on our short-term investment portfolio; the impact of inflation; volatility in foreign currency exchange rates; our dependence on key management and product development personnel; our dependence on our NBA 2K and Grand Theft Auto products and our ability to develop other hit titles; our ability to leverage opportunities on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S; factors affecting our mobile business, such as player acquisition costs; the timely release and significant market acceptance of our games; the ability to maintain acceptable pricing levels on our games.

Other important factors and information are contained in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the risks summarized in the section entitled “Risk Factors,” the Company’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the Company’s other periodic filings with the SEC, which can be accessed at www.take2games.com. All forward-looking statements are qualified by these cautionary statements and apply only as of the date they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.