It's been a rough ride for Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) investors, but an analyst presentation tomorrow could be the beginning of a turnaround.
The company plans to show off some of its upcoming games and money-making strategies during tomorrow's Zynga Unleashed conference.
Whether "unleashed" is a reference to the company's namesake bulldog icon or the fact that the stock has been a bit of a dog, investors can use some good news. The stock may have popped after going public at $10 six months ago, but now the stock has fallen to the mid-single digits.
Zynga has come through for the most part. It has posted back-to-back quarters of better than expected profitability in its brief public tenure. It went from accounting for 12% of Facebook's (Nasdaq: FB) revenue last year to 15% during the first three months of this year. When it saw a fast-growing drawing game topping the app stores, it moved quickly to shell out $183 million for Draw Something creator OMGPOP.
However, skeptics are more concerned about the rapidly evolving market for casual and social gaming. Facebook players are taking to smartphones, and mobile monetization isn't the same as the audience of focused desktop gamers. Zynga has Millennial Media (NYSE: MM) to power its mobile marketing, but investors buying into this theme have struck out.
Facebook, Zynga, and Millennial Media are all trading below their recent IPO prices.
Studies indicate that the popularity cycle for social games is shrinking. Diversions are peaking sooner, and that puts more pressure on Zynga to continue to crank out magnetic diversions. This brings us to tomorrow when Zynga will let analysts and investors see what it has in store.
There's a lot riding on the company's slate of upcoming releases, and no one knows that better than Zynga.
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