Take-Two stock up on 2Q beat, GTA heat

NEW YORK -- Take-Two Interactive blew past Wall Street expectations for the second quarter Wednesday with gamers snapping up popular sequels like "Borderlands 2" and "Grand Theft Auto IV."

The earnings beat comes one day after the Rockstar Games unit of Take-Two announced that the next installment of "Grand Theft Auto," one of the best-selling games of all time, would hit shelves in the spring.

Shares jumped 7 percent in early trading.

Revenue more than doubled to $273.2 million, from $107 million. Adjusted revenue was $288 million in the latest quarter.

The company posted a net loss of $12.5 million, or 15 cents per share, in the July-September period. That compares with a loss of $47.4 million, or 57 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 11 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 16 cents per share on revenue of $239.5 million, according to a poll by FactSet.

For the current quarter, Take-Two expects adjusted earnings of 45 cents to 60 cents per share and adjusted revenue of $325 million to $375 million.

Analysts are forecasting earnings of 52 cents per share on revenue of $356.9 million.

Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. rose 5 percent, or 49 cents, to $11.20 in morning trading. The stock has traded in the 52-week range of $7.37 to $16.99