Hearthstone And Destiny Combine For $850 Million As Activision Closes Strong Fiscal Year

Activision finished its 2014 fiscal year strong, exceeding expectations and announcing major milestones for its biggest franchises. The company announced successes across a number of franchises and titles.

Net Revenue (non-GAAP) for the year was $2.21 billion compared to a forecast of $2.2 billion. The company finished the year with $4.81 billion in net revenue, up from $4.34 billion in 2013.

Destiny and Hearthstone, both new releases in the fiscal year, combined for 40 million registered users (16 million of which belong to Destiny) and $850 million in revenue. The trend of digital revenue growth continues, with Activision reporting 46 percent of sales revenue coming from full-game downloads and add-ons.

As part of its financial success, Activision will be repurchasing up to $750 million shares (a move that returns value to investors). Additionally, the company will repay $250 million of outstanding debt.

In addition to the success of Hearthstone and Destiny, Activision says that Call of Duty is now an $11 billion franchise since its inception in 2003.

We'll have more from Activision's earnings shortly.

[Source: Activision]

Our Take
Activision continues to focus on a small number of heavy hitters, and it's paying off. The company started the year cautious about the transition to new consoles and emerged without a scratch. Destiny, despite some community backlash, continues to perform well (though we'll see how that continues with House of Wolves farther in the distance than was expected).