MAT News & Events

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.CIRCANA PROJECTIONS:Last week, Circana's Mat Piscatella said that the U.S. video game industry enters 2026 with the potential to reach a new record high in consumer spending, following a year of slight growth driven by new hardware, rising subscription engagement, and robust player demand across platforms. According to Circana's latest Games Market Dynamics report, total U.S. consumer spending on video game hardware, content, and accessories reached $60.7B in 2025, marking a +1.4% increase over 2024. Circana projects U.S. video game industry spending to rise +3% to $62.8B in 2026, surpassing the current all-time high of $61.7B set in 2021. This growth is expected to be fueled by the second year of Nintendo Switch 2, unprecedented anticipation for Take-Two's"Grand Theft Auto VI," and continued strength in subscription-based content. Key opportunities and challenges for the gaming industry in 2026, according to Circana, include: Switch 2 sales; "GTA VI" headlining a software surge; subscription spending remaining strong; hardware pressure from component costs; consumer behavior shifts, and emerging disruptors, including Valve's upcoming Steam Machines.AI DEMAND:Over the weekend, Bloomberg's Debby Wu, Takashi Mochizuki, and Yoolim Leethat rampant demand for memory technologies for generative AI is fueling a growing chip crisis, with such demand issues likely to affect video game hardware. Of note, people familiar with Sony'sthinking told Bloomberg that the PlayStation maker might delay the release of its next PlayStation console to 2028 or even 2029, which would cause a major upset to a "carefully orchestrated strategy to sustain user engagement between hardware generations." Meanwhile, Nintendo is also considering raising prices for its Switch 2 consoles this year despite launching the $450 device just last year, according to Bloomberg.UBISOFT RESULTS:Last week, Ubisoftreported Q3 net bookings of EUR 338M, marking a 12% year-over-year increase. Overperformance versus expectations was primarily driven by partnerships and the "Assassin's Creed" franchise, the company said. Back-catalog was up 11% year-on-year, driven by "Assassin's Creed," "Avatar" and "The Division." Looking ahead, the company reiterated its FY2025-2026 outlook for net bookings and non-IFRS EBIT.MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:At its State of Play event last Thursday, PlayStation unveiled a new 2D action gamefor PlayStation 5, which launched the same dayfrom the State of Play include an announcement for a remake of the original "God of War" trilogy, as well as an announcement for Konami's"Castlevania: Belmont's Curse" and "Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2," both out this yearSquare Enix's"Dragon Quest VII Reimagined" was the top-selling game in Japan for the week of February 2-8,Cathie Wood's ARK Investments purchasedof Robloxlast TuesdayMattelagreed to acquire full ownership offrom NetEase

The major averages had a lower finish following a better-than-expected January jobs report and the latest slate of corporate earnings. Employers added 130,000 jobs in January, according to the Labor Department in a report pushed back from last week by a government shutdown. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% from 4.4% in December.Looking to commodities, gold was trading above the $5,000 threshold following weeks of volatility. Oil prices were also higher following API and DOE crude inventories data.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:U.S. nonfarm payrollswith the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%Kraft Heinzreportedbut provided a conservative outlook for FY26Fordreportedbut better-than-expected revenueRobinhoodreportedand named Shiv Verma CFOModernawas slipping after the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research notified the company that it willof the biologics license application for its investigational influenza vaccine, mRNA-1010, and has issued a refusal-to-file letter2. WALL STREET CALLS:Cloudflareto Outperform at BairdBeta Technologiesto Buy at Jefferies ahead of upcoming catalystsMattelto Underweight at JPMorgan and cut to Neutral at Citi after its thesis-changing Q4 reportRapid7to Hold at Canaccord and to Neutral at UBSPivotalSpotifyon AI risk to paid music streaming3. AROUND THE WEB:Apple'slong-planned Siri upgrade runs into some snags, Bloomberg reportsCME Groupis working on plan to launch a rare earth futures contract, Reuters saysMicrosoftis exploring high-temperature superconductors to design more efficient data centers by enabling zero-resistance electricity flow, which could significantly reduce space and power infrastructure needs, The Verge reportsMeta, Snap, and TikTok have agreed to undergo independent assessments to rate how effectively they protect teen users based on roughly 24 standards developed by experts, Washington Post reportsAncora Holdings has built a stake of about $200M in Warner Bros. Discoveryand plans to oppose the company's deal to sell its studios/HBO Max service to Netflix, WSJ says4. MOVERS:Teradataincreases afterand providing guidance for FY26Aehr Test Systemsgains after announcing anMNTNand BorgWarnerhigher afterAngiand Centrus Energyfall afterUpstream Biolower after reporting results from its5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Lyftand authorized a new $1B buyback programHumanaand provided guidance for FY26T-Mobile, with EPS missing consensusShopifyand provided guidance for Q1Unity, with CEO Matt Bromberg commenting, "Fourth quarter results once again comfortably exceeded the high"INDEXES:The Dow fell 66.74, or 0.13%, to 50,121.40, the Nasdaq lost 36.01, or 0.16%, to 23,066.47, and the S&P 500 declined 0.34, or 0.0049%, to 6,941.47.