Shares of Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) rose sharply in U.S. premarket trading on Wednesday after the video game publisher delivered stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results and upgraded its full-year outlook, pointing to accelerating net bookings.
The company also reaffirmed its plan to release “Grand Theft Auto VI” in November, sticking with the updated timeline after twice postponing the highly anticipated next chapter in its flagship “GTA” franchise. The launch of “GTA VI”, along with post-release downloadable content, is widely expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue for Take-Two.
For the fiscal third quarter, Take-Two reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.23, well above analysts’ expectations of $0.83. Net bookings climbed 28% year on year to $1.757 billion, exceeding the consensus forecast of $1.59 billion.
The publisher also raised its outlook for fiscal 2026. It now expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of $3.75 to $3.85, compared with market estimates of $3.39. Full-year net bookings are projected at $6.68 billion to $6.7 billion, ahead of the $6.48 billion consensus.
“Highly anticipated launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th, we continue to project record levels of Net Bookings in Fiscal 2027, which we believe will establish a new financial baseline for our business, set us on a path to enhanced profitability, and provide further balance sheet strength and flexibilit,” Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick said in a statement.
During the quarter, Take-Two’s largest contributors to net bookings included “NBA 2K26”, “Grand Theft Auto Online”, and “Grand Theft Auto V”, alongside strong performances from “Red Dead Redemption 2”, “WWE 2K25”, and several mobile titles such as “Toon Blast” and “Match Factory”.
More broadly, video game stocks have faced some headwinds after Google unveiled a new artificial-intelligence-powered model designed to let users create digital environments using simple text descriptions or uploaded images. The announcement has fueled debate among investors over whether such AI tools could eventually disrupt traditional game development pipelines.
Still, some analysts see recent weakness in Take-Two shares as an opportunity. “Take-Two now offers a particularly attractive buying opportunity after the recent drawdown,” analysts at BofA Securities said in a note.