Top Players Across the Globe Riding Gaming Boom

Summary

• The gaming market has been on a phenomenal run in 2020. This year, the trend of gaming tournaments, e-sports and streaming has accelerated. 
• Both Sony and Microsoft have launched their latest gaming consoles this year. 

The gaming market has been on a lively run in 2020. As the pandemic forced people to stay put at their homes, gaming emerged as an alternative to many activities which require close contact. 

Also, the gaming industry has evolved significantly over the years. Ever since smartphones came into the limelight earlier in this century, the gaming industry has been on a new horizon. 

High performing smartphones with leading processors, sensors and graphics have become the necessity of the new generation in this age. 

Image Source: © Kalkine Group 2020

Good Read: How Will Smartphones Look Like In 2030?

Mobile phone games like Tencent’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) have been an immense success. The rising standards of game developers are forcing mobile phone companies to develop more sophisticated products at a competitive price. 

In 2020, the trend has been relatively skewed towards streaming, online tournaments, and e-sports platforms. Even the leading sports leagues like England’s Premier League organised an electronic sports tournament for the 2019-20 season. 

Image Source: © Kalkine Group 2020

In October, Democratic Party Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez also went live on game streaming platform Twitch for a promotional campaign for the General Election. She was accompanied by superstar streamers of the platform. 

In light of the above, it’s no doubt that the gaming industry is on a roll and is here to stay. Let us now cast an eye on some leading gaming stocks from around the world. 

NVIDIA Corporation 

As of 9 December 2020, shares of NASDAQ-listed NVIDIA Corporation enjoyed a rally of 119.1% in 2020. The company is a pioneer in GPU-accelerated computing. Its products have demand from gamers, scientists, and designers. 

In the third quarter ended 25 October 2020, the company posted record revenue of US $4.73 billion, an increase of 57% from the same period last year. Sequentially, its 3Q revenue was up 22% from US$3.87 billion in 2Q. 

Founder and CEO Jensen Huang noted that the business is firing on all cylinders with record trading in gaming, data centre and overall. 

GAAP-based net income for the quarter was US$1,336 million, up 49% from US$899 million in the same period last year. NVIDIA is expecting a revenue of US$4.8 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 with a deviation of plus or minus 2%. 

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

As of 9 December 2020, Tokyo-listed shares of Nintendo were up 37.28% this year. Nintendo is a consumer electronics and gaming company. It is largely famous for being the developer of Mario and for its gaming consoles.

In November, the company reported results for the half-year ended 30 September 2020. Net sales rose 73.3% to JPY 769.5 billion, operating profit increased by 209.3% to JPY 291.4 billion, and profit attributable to owners rose 243.6% to JPY 213.12 billion. 

In July, it released ‘Paper Mario: The Origami King’, which sold like hot cakes, selling a total of 2.82 million units. Hardware and software sales also hit the roof with an increase of 80.9% and 71.4%, respectively. 

Nintendo’s dedicated video game platforms in digital business contributed JPY 171.5 billion to digital sales. Its mobile IP related income was up 33.9% to JPY 26.7 billion.

Ubisoft Entertainment SA

As of 9 December 2020, Paris-listed shares of Ubisoft were up 25.71%. Ubisoft is the developer of renowned games like Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey, For Honor®, Far Cry and Just Dance. It develops games for all platforms including consoles, mobile phones, and tablets. 

In October, the company released results for the six months ended 30 September 2020. Net bookings for the period were €754.7 million, up 14.2% over the same period last year. 

IFRS-based operating income was €48.1 million compared to €9.3 million in the same period last year. Likewise, the diluted EPS stood at € 0.71 compared to €0.11 in the same period last year. 

For the full year 2020-21, the company is expecting net bookings in the range of €2,200 million to €2,350 million and non-IFRS operating income in the range of €420 million to €520 million. 

NetEase, Inc.

NASDAQ-listed shares of NetEase witnessed an uptick of 37.09% this year, as noted on 9 December 2020. NetEase is a Chinese internet company and develops some of China’s most popular PC and mobile games. NetEase has expanded internationally as well. 

NetEase also operates an online learning business, private label e-commerce, and music streaming. In November, the company released third-quarter results with net revenue up 27.5% to US$2.7 billion. 

Online gaming services contributed US$2 billion to net revenue with an increase of 20.2% over the same period last year. Gross profit for the period was US$1.5 billion, up 25.6% compared to 3Q 2019. 

During the period, its net income from continuing operations was US$441.6 million.