Zynga (NASDAQ:
ZNGA
), the producer of FarmVille, Words With Friends and other free
social media games, is expected to report its third-quarter
earnings after the market close Wednesday. During the last
quarter, Zynga
reported
an EPS of $0.01. This was significantly lower than the $0.06 that
analysts had anticipated. Revenue came in at $332 million versus
$344.12 million.
In the days and months that followed, Zynga shares have
continued to decline. The company
dabbled in gambling
, formed
new partnerships
with Hasbro (NYSE:
HAS
) and Nokia (NYSE:
NOK
), avoided
going private
and reduced its headcount by
more than 100 employees
. At every turn, Zynga's value has continued to diminish.
New ranking results indicate that Zynga is losing
one million players a day
. At that pace, it will not take long for the company to blow
through its 314 million monthly active users.
When Zynga reported its second-quarter results, the CityVille
maker reduced its annual expectations by a significant margin.
While the company had once expected to post a full-year EPS of
$0.23 to $0.29, Zynga now expects its EPS to fall between $0.04
and $0.09.
Of the few investors that are still with Zynga (more than 80
percent have left since the IPO), many are hoping that the
company can find a way to monetize its millions of users. But
while Facebook (NASDAQ:
FB
) can make money selling ads, Zynga has attempted to profit from
the sale of virtual goods. The company has expanded to mobile
platforms as well. Thus far, neither venture has been hugely
successful.
Could investors be in for a surprise this afternoon? There is
always hope. But Zynga is in a very difficult position. In
addition to the lack of revenue, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:
EA
) recently filed a lawsuit against Zynga for copyright
infringement. EA claims that Zynga's The Ville is a blatant copy
of its own game, The Sims Social.
Win or lose, Zynga's game is already in trouble. Since October
1, The Ville has lost
nearly 10 million
of its monthly active users.
Follow me
@LouisBedigianBZ
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