Nov 9 (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive lifted its annual revenue and profit forecasts on Monday, as the videogame publisher banks on the launch next week of the much-anticipated "Grand Theft Auto VI" to drive strong demand this year.
The company's shares rose nearly 7% in extended trading after CEO Strauss Zelnick said pre-orders for "GTA VI" were reaching "unprecedented levels," even as Take-Two stuck to its bookings forecast for the year.
"GTA VI" is being billed as the company's cash cow for the next
few quarters, with the delay-hit title set to reach players' hands on November 19, about 13 years after its predecessor was released.
The company began taking pre-orders for "GTA VI" in June and the title has seen about 7.71 million digital pre-orders worldwide as of November 3, according to Sensor Tower data, giving it an estimated gross revenue of more than $750 million.
Take-Two is benefiting from the big price tags of "GTA VI." The firm priced its standard edition at $79.99, one of the most expensive base versions of a videogame ever, while putting its "Ultimate Edition" at $99.99.
As of the end of August, nearly 90% of all pre-orders were placed for the higher-end version, according to Sensor Tower.
Take-Two expects total revenue of $7.98 billion to $8.18 billion for the full year, up from $7.90 billion to $8.10 billion earlier. It raised the lower end of its per-share profit outlook by 2 cents, now expecting earnings per share of 57 cents to 75 cents.
But the company maintained its annual bookings forecast of between $8 billion and $8.20 billion.
It also projected third-quarter bookings to be between $3.35 billion and $3.50 billion, below analysts' average estimate of a nearly 100% jump to $3.51 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
For the second quarter ended September 30, total bookings fell 18% to $1.60 billion, missing estimates of $1.67 billion.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
