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Zynga (ZNGA) Expands Gaming Portfolio With New Word Pop Game

Zacks Equity Research
·4-min read

Zynga ZNGA recently announced the launch of a new voice game –– Word Pop –– exclusively for Amazon’s AMZN Alexa device.

Word Pop is based on Zynga’s existing Words With Friends game but it puts a fresh new spin on the classic game series. Notably, players in the game will be challenged by Alexa to form as many words as possible from a six-letter pool. Players will earn points for both the number and length of words created.

The game is now available on Alexa devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Show or Echo Dot. Players will be able to access the game by just saying "Alexa, open Word Pop" on any Alexa device.

The strong popularity of Alexa devices ensures solid adoption of the game in the market. This is likely to drive Zynga’s performance in the coming days and boost investor confidence in the stock.

Zynga Inc. Price and Consensus

 

Zynga Inc. Price and Consensus
Zynga Inc. Price and Consensus

Zynga Inc. price-consensus-chart | Zynga Inc. Quote

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Portfolio Holds Promise

Notably, shares of Zynga have returned 50.7% in the year-to-date period against the industry’s decline of 23.6%. The launch of Word Pop is in line with company’s focus on enriching its portfolio through game launches, partnerships and acquisitions.

Recently, the company expanded its partnership with Snap SNAP to develop more multiplayer games exclusively for the latter’s platform, Snap Games. The first game under this partnership, Bumped Out, is now available on Snap Games.

Moreover, the company announced its acquisition of Istanbul-based Peak, which added hit franchises like Toon Blast and Toy Blast to Zynga’s portfolio. These games have a combined average mobile daily active user (DAU) count of 12 million and are expected to improve Zynga’s mobile DAUs by 60%. Notably, the company had 21 million mobile DAUs at the end of first-quarter 2020.

Further, in May, Zynga launched the puzzle game –– Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells –– for mobile devices worldwide. The game is expected to bolster the company’s mobile games portfolio, which in turn will attract more gamers.

These endeavors significantly boosted Zynga’s offerings, which consist of hit franchises like Zynga Poker, Empires & Puzzles and Merge Dragons! Also, they are expected to aid the company’s top line in the coming quarters.

Notably, in first-quarter 2020, the company’s revenues jumped 52.1% year over year to $403.8 million. This momentum is likely to continue on the substantial surge in video game demand stemming from coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Per a Technavio report, the gaming market is poised to reach a value of $65.19 billion during 2020-2024, at a CAGR of more than 10%.

Intense Competition in Video Game Market

Zynga is facing stiff competition from the likes of well-established players like Activision ATVI, Electronic Arts, Tencent and Epic Games.

Notably, Tencent’s PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings were the leading mobile games in terms of revenues, globally in May, per Sensor Tower data. Moreover, Epic Games’ Fortnite surpassed the $1-billion mark in lifetime player spending on the App Store and Google Play in just over a couple of years after its release.

Moreover, both EA and Activision Blizzard have a number of popular mobile game franchises to their credit.

EA’s SimCity, FIFA, Madden NFL, Plants vs. Zombies and Star Wars gained significant traction among gamers. Moreover, Activision’s Call of Duty Mobile and Candy Crush Saga are popular mobile games.

Nevertheless, Zynga, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is expected to benefit from its expanding portfolio. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

5 Stocks to Soar Past the Pandemic:

In addition to the companies you learned about above, we invite you to learn about 5 cutting-edge stocks that could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of the decade.

See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>


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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Snap Inc. (SNAP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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