GTA VI Preorders ‘Far In Excess Of Expectations…Numbers Will Speak Soon’ — CEO Boosts Expectations As TTWO Lifts Annual Forecasts

‘GTA VI’ will release on Nov. 19, with standard and ultimate editions on offer.

• Take-Two lifted fiscal 2027 sales and profit forecasts but kept the bookings guidance unchanged.
• Second-quarter revenue declined 15%, and bookings fell 18%.
• Retail sentiment for TTWO shifted to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish.’

Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts as the video game maker banks next week’s launch of its highly anticipated ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ to ‌drive business growth. 

The company did not reveal the preorder figures but said the response from gamers was unprecedented. TTWO stock rose 5% in overnight trading ahead of Tuesday’s session.

"Preorders for Grand Theft Auto VI are tracking far in excess of our initial expectations, and we know that the numbers will speak for themselves soon enough," CEO Strauss Zelnick said in the analyst call following the company’s third-quarter report.

CFO Lainie Goldstein called the preorder volume "extraordinary," while Zelnick went on to detail how a preview of ‘GTA VI’ premiered on Netflix recently and became the platform’s most viewed title for the week, drawing in 31 million consumers in just its first four days.

‘GTA VI’ will be released on Nov. 19 – with the standard priced at $79.99 and the ‘Ultimate Edition’ at $99.99 – on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-orders for the game started in June. 

The current version of the game, ‘GTA V,’ is one of the best-selling games of all time, with over 230 million ‌units ⁠sold since its 2013 launch.

Take-Two’s Q2 Recap

Take-Two forecast total ​revenue between $7.98 ⁠billion and $8.18 billion for fiscal 2027, up from $7.90 billion to $8.10 billion earlier. It also raised the lower end of its per-share profit outlook by $0.02, now projecting ⁠earnings of $0.​57 to $0.75.

The company, however, maintained its annual ​bookings forecast at $8 billion to $8.20 billion.

In the second quarter, revenue fell to $1.5 billion from $1.77 billion a year ago, missing analyst expectations of $1.62 billion. Total net bookings fell 18% to $1.6 billion.

The company reported a $0.29 per share loss. The bottom line was narrower than the $0.73 per share loss last year and better than the $0.86 per share loss expected by analysts. Take-Two released ‘NBA 2K27’ in the quarter, the latest edition in its basketball franchise, which saw weaker demand due to competition. 

Retail View On TTWO

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for TTWO shifted to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ the previous day, amid ‘extremely high’ message volume.

“$TTWO GTA will break every gaming record on the planet, mark my words,” said a trader. Another wrote: “TTWO great strength after hours, whatever concerns/disappointments here are now announced/addressed so it's possible that this thing can expand from here.”

Year to date, TTWO stock is down around 19% as of its last close.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<