It doesn't get much better than this: Video game software maker Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) stunned investors today with a sharp upward revision of its sales and earnings forecasts for Q3 ending Dec. 31 and fiscal year ending March 31. Shares rocketed 12% by mid-day, blasting through their $17 52-week high..

The company said that rapid sales of its Tony Hawk Underground, True Crime: Streets of L.A., and Call of Duty games will drive holiday quarter revenues from previously forecast $390 million to $480 million, with net income moving from $0.45 to a sweet $0.67. This puts last year's $0.42 to shame.

For the fiscal year, Activision says that the $90 million change will boost revenues to $870 million, against its prior $780 million prediction and EPS to $0.56 from $0.34. That's still less than last year's $0.64, but the $870 million sales figure trumps FY 2003's $864 million. And the whole picture beats the dismal results many investors had expected.

Christmas has clearly come early for many Activision investors, especially those who bought after the stock crushed holiday spirits last December and tanked to a split-adjusted $8.13.

Activision was a David Gardner selection twice for Motley Fool Stock Advisor and it's up 50% since he picked it for Stocks 2003 -- last year's edition of Stocks 2004 (now hot off the presses --get yours today!).

Is there more to come? With the news, Activision sells for 33 times projected earnings for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2004. Buy, sell, or hold? Get game on our Activision discussion board.