Game On: Take-Two provides beat and raise report for Q2

“Game On” is The Fly’s weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.

NEW RELEASES: This week’s most notable new release is Electronic Arts’ (EA) football sim “Madden NFL 26,” which launches August 14 for PC, Xbox Series X/S (MSFT), PlayStation 5 (SONY), and Nintendo Switch 2 (NTDOY). The Fly notes that this marks the first release of a “Madden” game on a Nintendo console in 13 years. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s new motion-controlled sports game “Drag x Drive” launches exclusively on Switch 2 on August 14 as well.

TAKE-TWO: Last week, Take-Two (TTWO) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and net bookings, with the game maker noting that bookings from recurrent spending grew 17% year-over-year and accounted for 83% of total net bookings. Looking ahead, the company raised its full-year net bookings guidance. The Fly notes that upcoming title “Grand Theft Auto VI” is slated for a May 26, 2026 release.

Following the results, no fewer than eight securities analysts increased their price targets on the game maker, with JPMorgan raising its target to $275 from $250 with an Overweight rating and saying that Take-Two continues to execute well across its portfolio and remains a top pick heading into the “Grand Theft Auto VI” release in May 2026. Meanwhile, Benchmark also raised the firm’s price target on Take-Two to $275 from $250 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares after fiscal Q1 results exceeded expectations “across all major financial metrics” and management raised full-year guidance across net bookings, AEBITDA, and adjusted EPS. Execution on the upcoming release slate – particularly “Borderlands 4,” “NBA 2K26,” and “Grand Theft Auto Online” updates – will be “critical for sustaining momentum into FY27, the analyst tells investors in a post-earnings note.

Click here to check out recent Media Buzz Sentiment on Take-Two as measured by TipRanks.

SONY: Sony also reported quarterly results last week, with the company’s Q1 earnings per share and revenue both increasing year-over-year, though its FY25 sales guidance is lower than its reported FY24 figure. Of note, Sony’s Game & Network Services sales rose 8% to JPY936.5B from JPY864.9B last year, with operating income for the segment rising to JPY148B from JPY65.2B.

Looking to a more specific breakdown, Sony said that PlayStation hardware sales rose 4.7%, while software sales increased 11%. The PlayStation 5 hit a new sales milestone of 80.3M units shipped globally, with PlayStation Network subscribers up 7M year-over-year to 123M total users.

GAMING COPILOT: Microsoft’s Xbox said in a blog post that Gaming Copilot, the company’s AI gaming assistant, is available on Game Bar for Windows PC for Xbox Insiders enrolled in the PC Gaming Preview beginning Wednesday. “Gaming is one of the only forms of entertainment where you can get stuck, and Gaming Copilot is designed to help get you past those obstacles so you can spend more time playing the games you love,” the company said. “This companion makes gaming with Xbox more seamless and personalized, helping you get to gameplay faster, sharpening your skills, and being there when you need it and out of the way when you don’t. While Gaming Copilot (Beta) is also available now for Xbox Insiders to try on Windows handhelds with limited functionality, further optimizations are underway for handhelds as we approach the launch of the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X.”

MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:

• Roblox (RBLX) price target raised to $138 from $118 at Roth Capital
• Microsoft has canceled Xbox game “Contraband,” which was first announced in 2021, Bloomberg reports