By Austen Hufford 

Dow Jones Newswires prematurely published headlines on Activision Blizzard Inc.'s quarterly earnings ahead of a Thursday afternoon embargo, including an incorrect revenue figure that the company blamed for a significant drop in its stock price.

Activision shares fell as much as 6% after the headline error but later recovered some of the loss when the company posted record revenue and earnings that beat expectations. Shares closed Thursday down 2.3% at $66.82.

"We regret our error as well as inadvertently breaking the embargo," Dow Jones said in a statement. "We have issued a correction and are reviewing our processes."

Activision addressed the early release and wrong revenue figure on its regularly scheduled conference call with analysts, saying it was an "extraordinary error" that resulted in volatility in its stock.

Starting at 1:05 p.m. EDT, Dow Jones Newswires, the professional business information service operated by The Wall Street Journal's publisher, sent out three pieces of information: the company's first-quarter profit, earnings per share and an incorrect figure that mistakenly cited a year-earlier revenue of $1.7 billion. Activision said in the embargoed release it generated $1.97 billion of revenue in the first quarter.

Trading in Activision's shares was then halted around 2:14 p.m. on the Nasdaq. Dow Jones Newswires published a correction around 2:30 p.m. Activision released its full results about a half an hour later.

It is common practice for companies to provide financial-news organizations with embargoed releases of their earnings results.

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2018 20:01 ET (00:01 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Activision Blizzard Charts.
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024 Click Here for more Activision Blizzard Charts.