Activision Blizzard’s Earnings Miss. Investors Care More About Microsoft Merger.

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Activision Blizzard

stock was dipping on Monday after the videogame giant posted first-quarter earnings that missed expectations.

The company reported adjusted earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $1.77 billion, missing Wall Street consensus calls for earnings per share of 71 cents and sales of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, Activision Blizzard (ticker:

ATVI

) reported $2.28 billion in revenue.

“Financial performance declined year over year, primarily reflecting lower results for Call of Duty and product cycle timing at Blizzard,” the company said in a press release.

The company said it was not hosting a conference call nor providing financial guidance in light of its upcoming acquisition by

Microsoft

(

MSFT

).

Microsoft announced plans to purchase Activision Blizzard for about $69 billion, or $95 a share, in January. The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of June 2023, already has been approved by the board of both companies.

Despite the earnings miss, shares of the Call of Duty producer were down just about 0.8% to $77.96 on Monday. While the stock is up 18% this year, it has been trading at at a discount to Microsoft’s offer price as investors fret over whether regulators will approve the biggest deal in tech history.

Takeover arbitrageurs in January estimated there was about a 60% chance the acquisition would go through. And in late March, a group of prominent Senate Democrats, including Sens.  Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I.-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking it to scrutinize the transaction.

Write to Sabrina Escobar at [email protected]