Shares in games group Snail (SNAL) popped over 100% in pre-market trading today as investors gave a roaring response to its dinosaur-driven Q1 earnings report.
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Dinosaur Demand
The game developer and publisher, reporting after markets closed on May 13, said:
- Its earnings per share for the period had come in at $0.06, well above analyst expectations of a loss per share of $0.21. Net revenues for the quarter came in at $27.3 million, again beating forecasts of $18.4 million.
- Revenues rose 35.7% on the same period last year, with net income coming in at $2.1 million, up 210% on the net loss of $1.9 million last year. It reported bookings of $26.9 million, up 21% year-over-year.
The company pointed to a $4.2 million increase in revenue from the dinosaur-themed ARK: Survival Ascended as one of the big drivers behind the performance, as well as strong demand for medieval survival title Bellwright.
Total units sold climbed 42.6% to 2.2 million in the quarter, with ARK: Survival Ascended accounting for approximately 1.4 million of those sales. The game’s average daily active users reached 127,000, with a peak of 188,000.
Plenty of Pipeline
CEO Hai Shi said there was more to come in its games pipeline. “We have a Fantastic Tames Season 1 Expansion Pack coming in May 2026, and ARK Tides of Fortune to launch alongside the remake of Genesis Part 1 coming to ASA in June 2026 to provide a foundation for the quarter to build on,” he said.
Indeed, Snail believes that approximately $11 million in deferred revenue is expected to be recognized upon the Genesis Part 1 release.
The company said that its AAA titles – For The Stars, Nine Yin Sutra: Immortal and Nine Yin Sutra: Wushu – are in their final phases of development and could be franchises with “multi-year to multi-decade” lifespans.
“Over time, our ambition is for Snail Games to be recognized not only for ARK, but as a developer and publisher of multiple renowned IPs and titles,” Shi said.“We remain focused on unlocking the value of our pipeline and delivering results.”
Is SNAL a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, only one Wall Street analyst has given SNAL a rating, so let’s look at how the company’s share price has performed over the last three months. As can be seen below, it is down 15% over that period.
