Earnings

Candy crushed: King smacked as outlook disappoints

Social and mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment reported quarterly earnings that met Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, but sales were below estimates and the company lowered its full-year outlook.

The company reported second-quarter earnings of 59 cents per share on $594 million in revenue.

Analysts had expected King Digital Entertainment to report earnings of 59 cents a share on $608 million in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

Shares fell about 22 percent in after-hours trading.

King Digital said gross bookings for the second-quarter came in at $611 million, less than the $640 million that analysts had expected.

Looking forward, the company forecast third-quarter bookings of between $500 million and $525 million and said it expects gross bookings for the full-year to come in between $2.25 billion and $2.35 billion.

On a positive note, the firm said it will pay a special dividend of $150 million on September 30.

Pedestrians walk past a King Digital Entertainment banner on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange in New York.
Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images

King Digital, the maker of the popular "Candy Crush" game, opened for public trading in March, and the stock has had a rocky ride since then. It dropped below $16 per share in May before rising to recent levels of above $18.

Since the game maker's IPO, analyst coverage has focused on whether the company can repeat the commercial success of "Candy Crush." King's other games include "Bubble Witch 2 Saga" and "Farm Heroes Saga."

—By CNBC staff