Activision stock now is higher than its ever been in 26 years

Activision shares closed at $90.96 on December 24, setting a new all-time record high for the company's stock.

Activision stock is now higher than it has ever been in the company's 26-year history. The share spike was driven by Activision-Blizzard's successful releases including World of Warcraft Shadowlands, which is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time with 3.7 million copies moved in 1 day, and Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War.

Call of Duty hit an incredible milestone in 2020 by generating $3 billion in revenues as of December. The franchise has now made up nearly 40% of Activision's total trailing 12-month earnings. The new inter-connected ecosystem combines Warzone, Black Ops Cold War, Modern Warfare, and Call of Duty Mobile with monetization and full game sale earnings in a cohesive, cross-progression system.

The record shares are a direct result of Activision's new four-part plan. This strategy puts engagement, monetization, and mobile ports alongside full premium releases, and folds its biggest franchises together in a webwork of cross-platform microtransactions and sales. We've seen Activision weave Call of Duty releases together with this plan, and other franchises will follow suit.

Activision expects 2020 to be its best year ever. The company forecasts earnings of $7.76 billion in 2020, beating out 2018's previous record of $7.5 billion in revenues.

Here are a few other metrics from Activision's recent Q3 results:

• Activision segment earnings up 270% in Q3
• Q3 revenues were up 29% to $1.954 billion
• 90% of Q3's revenues were from digital