What happened
It's been a rough year for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO 2.02%), whose stock is down 25.9% in the last 12 months. But shares had a nice recovery on Tuesday, climbing as much as 3.2% in trading before falling back to a 1.1% gain at 11:30 a.m. ET.
So what
Last week, shares jumped on gossip that Sony (SONY +0.19%) might be interested in buying the video game company. While that's still a rumor, there was some positive news on the buyout front when it was reported that the European Union appears willing to clear Microsoft's (MSFT 0.34%) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI +0.00%).
NASDAQ: TTWO
Key Data Points
If the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard deal does go through, it could pave the way for other mergers in gaming. Take-Two Interactive would be a likely target, and even a small reduction in regulatory pushback would be good news.
Now what
Consolidation in the gaming industry has been growing for years as Sony and Microsoft have bought up studios to add to their portfolios. But some major independent studios like Take-Two Interactive and Activision Blizzard have remained independent. That will change if the Activision Blizzard deal goes through, and more dominoes could topple.
I don't like speculating on buyouts because if they don't happen, a stock can fall. In this case, some sort of buyout seems inevitable, but even if that's true, I'm not buying a stock on speculation. So I'll leave today's move alone for now.
