Activision's Q1 2021 performance is the best in 10 years

Activision kicks off its 2021 year with record earnings across the board due to strong performance of Call of Duty (Warzone, Black Ops Cold War), Candy Crush, and World of Warcraft.

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Activision's Q1 2021 has delivered record results across a number of metrics. Q1 2021 was the best first quarter in the last 10 years when measuring net revenues ($2.275 billion), operating profit ($795 million), and profit ($619 million). In fact, Q1 2021 had the best operating profit of any other quarter in the last 10 years. The period had the third-best revenues of any quarter, and the second-best profits when compared to other quarters.

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The company notes this substantial growth is due to Call of Duty monetization (up 60% YoY) and full game sales, and Activision also earned $1.343 billion from mictotransactions, representing 65% of its total net bookings.

Check below for a breakdown from Activision:

Now, for the quarter, we generated Quarter 1 GAAP revenues of $2.28 billion, $260 million above our February outlook. This includes the net recognition of deferrals of $209 million. And net bookings of $2.07 billion were $316 million above our outlook. And we generated GAAP EPS of $0.79 and Quarter 1 non-GAAP EPS of $0.98, which was $0.14 above our February outlook. These figures include the net recognition of deferrals of $0.14.

Activision - $891 million

Activision revenue was $891 million, growing 72% year-over-year. Growth was driven by Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone in-game revenues, premium sales and Call of Duty Mobile. Operating income more than doubled year-over-year to $442 million with an operating margin of 50%, 14 percentage points higher year-over-year.

Blizzard - $483 million

Blizzard revenue was $483 million, increasing 7% year-over-year with very strong growth for World of Warcraft partially offset by product timing. Operating income was $208 million and Blizzard's operating margin was 43%, broadly consistent year-over-year.

King - $609 million

King's revenue grew 22% year-over-year to $609 million. This is a new record led by strong in-game revenue growth for Candy Crush.

• Activision expects to make a record-breaking $8.37 billion in 2021
• Activision Q1 microtransctions hit $1.343 billion, best Q1 in 6 years
• Activision teases big Warzone boom: 'Were just scratching the surface'