Activision shares jump after 1st-quarter results surpass expectations

Activision shares climb after solid 1Q results

NEW YORK — Shares of Activision Blizzard Inc. got a boost Friday after the video game publisher posted stronger-than-expected first quarter results, fueled by strong revenue from “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft” games.

Investors also seemed encouraged that the company’s important “Call of Duty” franchise is in good hands after the quarter’s shakeup of the studio behind the most popular games in the series. Activision had fired the heads of Infinity Ward; the company and the executives are now embroiled in a legal battle.

Shares of Activision rose 14 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $10.63 in afternoon trading even as the broader market declined. Earlier in the day, the stock rose as high as $11.18.

Activision spent a “good deal of time” addressing its plans for the franchise, noting that there is a “very high-quality title scheduled this year, at least one title in development for 2011,” as well as much more online content, said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter in a note to investors.

While this is encouraging, the analyst said, the “real story” for Activision is Blizzard, the maker of “World of Warcraft” and the upcoming “StarCraft 2.”

“We continue to believe that the monetization opportunities and margins for ‘StarCraft’ and Blizzard in general, are not well understood by The Street,” the analyst wrote.

Blizzard joined Activision in 2008 when French conglomerate Vivendi SA bought a majority stake in the Santa Monica, Calif., company and combined it with its games unit. Games like “World of Warcraft” generate steady revenue from millions of gamers who pay monthly subscription fees to play online.