PLAYSTUDIOS reported fourth-quarter revenue that beat consensus as well as its own expectations, sending its shares higher.
The developer of the playAWARDS loyalty platform and an award-winning developer of free-to-play mobile and social games, delivered revenue of $79.4 million for the three months to December 31, 2022, from $71.9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
Adjusted underlying earnings (AEBITDA) increased marginally to $12.1 million from $12 million. However, it reported a net loss of $1.7 million, compared to net income of $600,000 a year earlier.
“We finished the year with solid momentum, with fourth quarter results ahead of our guidance and consensus expectations,” chairman and CEO Andrew Pascal said in a statement. “Revenue and AEBITDA exceeded year ago and third quarter results despite an economic and industry backdrop that continues to be challenging.”
For full-year 2022, revenue increased to $290.3 million from $287.4 million in 2021 while AEBITDA came in slightly lower at $38.3 million from $39.5 million a year earlier. It swung to a full-year net loss of $17.8 million from net income of $10.7 million in fiscal 2021.
“Looking forward, we have exciting plans for 2023. We remain committed to diversifying our collection of games, expanding our player network, and demonstrating the power of playAWARDS,” Pascal continued. “In support of this, we have a balanced portfolio of new, early-stage, and evergreen initiatives, including new Tetris games, optimizations for our Brainium suite of casual games, and new innovations for our social casino suite.”
PLAYSTUDIOS shares traded 18% higher at $4.13 by 12:30pm in New York.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com