SciPlay, a maker of casino video games for mobile and web platforms, late Monday beat Wall Street's sales target for the fourth quarter but came up short on earnings. The earnings news pushed SCPL stock lower in extended trading.
The Las Vegas-based company earned 18 cents a share on sales of $147.1 million in the December quarter. Analysts had expected SciPlay earnings of 26 cents a share on sales of $146.1 million. On a year-over-year basis, SciPlay earnings dipped 5% while sales climbed 30%.
In after-hours trading on the stock market today, SCPL stock fell 4%, near 18.50. During the regular session Monday, SCPL stock rose 6.1% to 19.26.
"Our core business has never been healthier as we achieved record results in 2020," Chief Executive Josh Wilson said in a news release. "Looking ahead, we couldn't be more excited about our expansion into the casual genre with the launch of 'Solitaire Pets Adventure' this year. This is a major step in our evolution and I'm confident we have the right talent and expertise to leverage our success in the social casino space to the casual genre.
SCPL Stock Breaks Out On Glu Mobile Acquisition
Mobile video game stocks have been in the spotlight since Electronic Arts announced a $2.1 billion deal to buy Glu Mobile on Feb. 8.
The next day, SCPL stock jumped 14.8% on speculation that other mobile gaming stocks could be acquisition targets. On that day, it broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a buy point of 18.85, according to IBD MarketSmith charts. SCPL stock notched a record high of 21.74 on Feb. 19 before falling during the recent tech stock sell-off.
On Thursday, industry peer Playtika reported sales and earnings above expectations for the fourth quarter and guided slightly above views for 2021. It earned 19 cents a share, up 138% year over year, on sales of $573.5 million, up 17%, in the December quarter.
SciPlay Ranks First In Video Game Stock Group
SCPL stock ranks No. 22 on the IBD 50 list of top-performing growth stocks. SciPlay also is the top-rated stock in IBD's Computer Software-Gaming industry group, according to the IBD Stock Checkup tool. SCPL stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 95 out of 99.
SciPlay offers seven core games. They include social casino games "Jackpot Party Casino," "Gold Fish Casino," "Hot Shot Casino" and "Quick Hit Slots," and casual games "Monopoly Slots," "Bingo Showdown" and "88 Fortunes Slots."
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
