Angry Birds maker craters on bad guidance, losing half its market value

Angry Birds maker Rovio’s stock price tanked cratered after their latest quarterly earnings report painted a dismal future for the game maker. The stock is down 50 percent after the company sent investors a warning in their latest earnings report that revenues were likely to suffer in 2018.

Despite a strong over-reliance on the Angry Birds brand, which seems to have been integrated into any and every licensing deal possible over the past few years, the 15-year-old Rovio is still making moves. The company had $365 million (€297.2 million) in revenues in 2017, a 55 percent increase over the previous year, as the game-maker made more money off its titles and brand licensing deals.

The strong reaction today was the result of investors feeling misled by the company’s optimism in past future guidance. Rovio, which is listed on Finland’s main stock exchange in Helsinki, forecast that its 2018 revenues would likely sink below the previous year and profits may dip, as well, as user acquisition costs have gotten higher and the future has become more uncertain.

Game developers that strike it rich off a single title have historically seemed to have a rough go as public companies. The company was valued at $1 billion preceding its IPO late last year, but the goings have been a bit rough, with its market cap now sitting below $500 million.

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