Just a mere glimpse of Midway's
Fourth-quarter net income came in at a loss of $29.7 million, or $0.33 per share, much wider than its net loss of $2 million, or $0.02 per share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue dropped, too, down 20% to $77.6 million.
You'd think these would be great times for video game companies, given the console upgrade cycle, but it hasn't always been all that evident lately. For example, THQ Inc.
On the other hand, a quick look at Midway reminds me that I'd prefer being allied with a leader like Electronic Arts, with its portfolio of wildly popular titles, any day. And even though Take-Two
In another interesting aside, Shari Redstone (daughter of Viacom's
A quick peek at recent SEC filings says to me that not only has Midway's financial situation been pretty ugly for quite some time (back in October, Fool contributor Steven Mallas pointed out that Midway's situation could get uglier, and it did), but executives have also been leaving at a rapid clip (not to mention the last chairman, Kenneth Cron, in December).
This sounds like a story that would be interesting to unravel further in soap-opera fashion, but as an investment? I'm not sold. You've probably guessed I'm thinking maybe it's best to leave Midway to the Redstones. I'd rather look for better opportunities elsewhere.