Candy Crush dev’s profits are up, but shares are falling fast

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May 7, 2014

Candy Crush developer King today reported earnings for its first quarter ended March 31, showing big gains for profit, player engagement, and monetization. But it wasn't all good news for the social game studio. Wall Street isn't thrilled, as the company's shares are currently down more than 15 percent.

For the quarter, King posted a profit of $127 million, an increase of $75 million (142 percent) year-over-year. Daily active users rose to 143 million for the quarter, up by 107 million (297 percent) compared to last year. Compared to last quarter, daily active users are up 19 million. Monthly active users are on the rise as well, jumping 249 percent to 481 million year-over-year and 18 percent compared to last quarter.

Not only are player numbers on the rise, but the amount of money people are spending is also going up. Monthly Unique Payers in the first quarter were 11.9 million, an increase of 190 percent compared to last year. However, this is a decrease from last quarter, when Monthly Unique Payers stood at 12.2 million. Monthly Gross Average Bookings per Paying User rose to $18.02 in the quarter, up 13 percent ($2.10) from last year and up 4 percent from last quarter. Overall, King generated record quarterly bookings of $480 million.

"We are pleased with our first quarter 2014 results and are executing on our plan to build a strong portfolio of games," King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said in a statement.

Three King titles were in the top 10 grossing games for iTunes, Google Play, and Facebook during the quarter, though these were not specified. King also pointed out that it's not just Candy Crush Saga that's boosting the company's bottom line. The company says games other than Candy Crush Saga rose by 33 percent in terms of revenue during the quarter.