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ZYNGA INC

  • Zuckerberg and Facebook from a Social Media Point of View

    By Erin McBride - May 15, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, MSFT, YHOO, ZNGA

    Facebook filed an amended S-1 to its initial public offering Tuesday, raising its share price up to $38 per share. Additionally, the company is offering another 50 million shares, for a total of 337 million shares. With these new changes it could bring the company's valuation closer to $106.4 billion, a jaw-dropping number for the value of a social network.

    As the number rises, a few vocal complainers more »

  • Zynga's Costly Mistake - Part Two

    By Brandy Betz - May 11, 2012 | Tickers: EA, ZNGA

    (Read Part One.)

    Draw Something isn't the only card in Zynga's (NASDAQ: ZNGA) deck. The company has several titles that are still attracting large numbers of players. The previously mentioned Words With Friends is holding on to a respectable audience for a game that’s essentially Scrabble. The five-year-old Zynga Poker is maintaining DAUs of 7 million. The recently launched Zynga Slingo, a licensed version of a bingo-slots more »

  • Zynga's Costly Mistake - Part One

    By Brandy Betz - May 11, 2012 | Tickers: ZNGA

    Social gaming company Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) made headlines in April when it paid $180 million for OMGPOP, maker of the hit Pictionary-esque game Draw Something. At the time of the announcement, the then six-week old game had attracted 37 million installs and 20.5 million daily active users (DAUs). The price tag, which included an additional $30 million employee retention payment, seemed exorbitant especially compared to the $53.3 million more »

  • Why Activision Blizzard is the Real Deal

    By Harsh Chauhan - May 10, 2012 | Tickers: ATVI, EA, ZNGA

    Two days after Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) failed to please the Street, arch-rival Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) managed to come up with a decent showing in the first quarter. All eyes were on the number of players engaged in World of Warcraft, the company’s most lucrative franchise. And the 7-year old game didn’t disappoint investors as the number of users remained consistent from the previous quarter at 10 more »

  • Is Zynga a Prime Short Candidate?

    By Eric Novinson - May 8, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, TGT, ZNGA

    The studio OMGPop struggled before it gained a major success with its Draw Something app, but this app soon became so popular that it convinced Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) to buy OMGPop for $200 million. In Forbes, Paul Tassi reports that Draw Something lost almost a third of its audience in April, illustrating a major flaw in Zynga's business model.

    Zynga's main strength is game monetization, not game design more »

  • Facebook a Valuation Nightmare

    By Moustafa El Zanaty - May 8, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, ZNGA

    If you haven't been stranded on an island talking to a volleyball named Mr. Wilson, you should know that Facebook, the social media giant, is entering the public market. Officially, the road show started May 7th with the IPO set for May 14th and an interesting IPO it should be. The most interesting news to me coming out of the press is the valuation estimates ranging from 50-100 Billion more »

  • Profit on Facebook’s IPO By Shorting LinkedIn

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - May 7, 2012 | Tickers: LNKD, ZNGA

    As two of the most popular social networking sites in the world, Facebook and LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) allow users to be a part of an immersive community of their peers, though each is unique in its own way. LNKD is geared toward professionals and aspiring jobseekers through its innovative ‘degrees of separation’ system, and even allows employers to post jobs on its platform.  Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild, on the other more »

  • Dot Com Bust 2.0?

    By David Danna - May 3, 2012 | Tickers: GRPN, ZNGA

    This year Facebook is set to IPO making its founders and early employees insanly rich, in fact an artist named David Choe who was paid in Facebook stock for painting a wall at the Facebook headquarters is set to become a multi-millionare. Facebook is not the only web 2.0 company that is planning to go public or has gone public. YELP!, AVG Technologies, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ: ZNGA), Angie's more »

  • Facing the Asian Future

    By Peter Pham - May 1, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, NFLX, ZNGA

    With the long-awaited Facebook IPO imminent a lot of the discussion has been centered on what feels like an obscene valuation.  There has been so much focus on the capitalization numbers, i.e. the size of the IPO, that little attention has been paid to the potential.  As with so many large American brands now the opportunity for them is not continued growth in America or, in Facebook’s case more »

  • PopCap Moves into Merchandise

    By Brandy Betz - May 1, 2012 | Tickers: EA, HAS, ZNGA

    PopCap hopes to bring zombie battles to a store near you. The gaming company, which became a subsidiary of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) last year following a $750 million + purchase, has signed licensing agreements to create merchandise for its most popular titles. First out of the gate: Plants vs. Zombies.

    Plants vs. Zombies is a multi-platform game that has existed since 2009 but remains immensely popular. The iOS version, released more »

  • Netflix: Could 4 Million More Subscribers Push This Stock Higher?

    By Maxwell Fisher - April 30, 2012 | Tickers: CSTR, GRPN, NFLX, ZNGA

    Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) had a share price of $106 per share at the close last Friday. Its quarterly earnings came out Tuesday and the company reported the addition of 3 million streaming subscribers in the first quarter and a return to profitability sooner than it had forecast. Why then, is the stock down 20% and trading at $83 per share Wednesday? It's a good question that has no reasonable more »

  • Facebook's IPO Will be a Game Changer

    By Erin McBride - April 19, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, MSFT, YHOO, ZNGA

    TechCrunch, a reputable and well-known tech media source, cited sources that indicate Facebook may launch its IPO on May 17, just four weeks away. But no matter when the Facebook IPO takes place, or how much it is valued for, it will be a unique and original case study for the future. Investors will be taking part in an historic opportunity to change the way people around the world interact more »

  • Mattel Shares Put in Time Out After Earnings Announcement

    By Tom Gibbs - April 16, 2012 | Tickers: AAPL, HAS, MAT, ZNGA

    Mattel (NASDAQ: MAT) shares were smashed by nearly 8% this morning following news of the corporation’s Q1 2012 financial results. Following the somewhat disappointing domestic holiday sales season, the toy maker reported $928.4 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2012, down 2.5% from the comparable quarter last year. Likewise, driven by the acquisition of HIT Entertainment – the owner of the Thomas & Friends, Barney, and Bob more »

  • IPOs: Facebook No Bellwether

    By Jane Genova - April 10, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, GRPN, LNKD, ZNGA

    Investors are paying plenty of attention to IPOs in general and internet IPOs more specifically. And there is plenty of action to pay attention to. The Dow Jones Venture Source documents that Q1 2012 has been the most active for IPO activity since Q4 2007.  In addition, excitement escalates now that FACEBOOK had filed its IPO S1 with the SEC. 

    Actually, though, in my opinion, that overall focus might be more »

  • Google: The Best Social Media Play?

    By Helen Hagan - April 4, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, GRPN, JIVE, LNKD, ZNGA

    Social media and the rise of web 2.0 is a megatrend that is growing the US economy.  In The next wave of digital growth is here, Todd Harrison wrote that web portal usage is down 24%, while social has grown 52%. These changes demonstrate how the economy of the net is fundamentally changing. New developments in the “hypernet” threaten to undercut television and web search. Though these changes and more »

  • THQ: Dark Times in the Dark Millennium

    By John Casteele - April 2, 2012 | Tickers: ATVI, EA, THQI, ZNGA

    Looking back, I've probably played more games by THQ (NASDAQ: THQI) in my lifetime than just about any other publisher. The last game that I paid full price for was even a Warhammer 40k game by THQ's Relic Entertainment, and in my time as a moderator at a Relic Entertainment fan forum I've even chatted with a few folks from both Relic and THQ proper. The fanboy more »

  • Time to Buy Zynga?

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - March 28, 2012 | Tickers: EA, GRPN, LNKD, OPEN, ZNGA

    With continued speculation over a social media bubble, we are taking a look at the creator of Farmville and acquirer of OMGPOP (developer of Draw Something) for $200 million. Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), held by Chase Coleman, has been growing like a weed and has plans to launch its own gaming platform and enter the online gambling market. ZNGA publishes games on social media networks, notably Facebook. While in the past more »

  • Google Goes Traditional

    By Tom Gibbs - March 28, 2012 | Tickers: GOOG, MSFT, P, YHOO, ZNGA

    More detailed information regarding Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) increased advertisement spending in 2011 has recently been compiled, and the shifts represent a meaningful change for the corporation. 

    Google spent more than $213 million in the United States alone to advertise its online ad-based products, nearly quadrupling the $56 million it spent in 2010. The increased spending, which saw meaningful jumps in both television (nearly $70 million, up from $0 in more »

  • Zynga Buys Competition, Highlights Weakness

    By Chris Moore - March 23, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, ZNGA

    I’ve been skeptical of the social gaming platform since day one and Zynga’s (NASDAQ: ZNGA) latest move confirms my skepticism is well placed. Zynga announced that it had acquired New York-based social game developer OMGPOP, maker of recent hit Draw Something. While I applaud Zynga for adding another hit to its stable, it really highlights the weakness of social gaming and game development in general. Barriers to entry more »

  • Zynga or Activision: Which is the Better Buy?

    By Arthur Pinkasovitch - March 13, 2012 | Tickers: ATVI, EA, TTWO, ZNGA

    Social networks are changing everything from the way people communicate, how people gain access to information and even how people dine. One of the industries that is feeling the pinch of day-to-day activities being integrated with social websites and smartphones is the video game industry.  The first video game that I ever played was Mario for the original Nintendo; playing Super Mario World for the SNES was a totally new more »

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