WWE Drives Strong Holiday Quarter for THQ

Lifetime sales of THQ's WWE vs. Smackdown franchise are now beyond $1 billion. The most recent installment helped drive THQ to more than $509 million in sales during Q3.

Posted by James Brightman on Tuesday, February 05, 2008

After raising its outlook last month, publisher THQ today announced solid sales and net income for its third quarter ended December 31, 2007. Sales rose from $475.7 million during the same period a year ago to $509.6 million; results were primarily attributed to WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, Cars: Mater-National and MX vs. ATV Untamed. Net income totaled $15.5 million.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw in particular was huge for THQ, selling over five million units and bringing total lifetime WWE franchise net sales to more than $1 billion. Total lifetime Nickelodeon franchise net sales also surpassed $1 billion during the quarter, thanks to Avatar, Nicktoons and SpongeBob SquarePants. Another highlight for THQ was Drawn to Life, which helped the publisher grow its Nintendo DS revenue (for the quarter and nine months ended December 31) 94 percent year-over-year.

Looking at the first nine months, THQ 's net sales dipped to $843.4 million, compared with $854.8 million, while the company reported a net loss of $806,000. The good news is that during this period THQ's international net sales increased significantly, to 50 percent of total global net sales (up from 40 percent a year ago).

"During the holiday quarter, we were pleased with the record performance of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 and the successful launch of our internally developed game MX vs. ATV Untamed," said Brian Farrell, THQ president and CEO. "We continue to strengthen our product development capabilities to support our long-term strategy of creating new owned intellectual properties. We look forward to launching Frontlines: Fuel of War at the end of this month. In fiscal 2009, we are well positioned for increased sales and profitability with strong owned intellectual properties such as Red Faction and Saints Row and well-known licensed franchises including WWE, UFC, Disney/Pixar and Nickelodeon."

THQ did not alter its guidance. For the fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, 2008, the company expects net sales of around $200 million and a net loss of approximately $0.13, while for the full fiscal year ending March 31, the company expects net sales of about $1.04 billion and a loss per share of approximately $0.16

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