Goldman Sachs has elevated its rating for Activision Blizzard shares, and the reason why is actually pretty exciting. According to one analyst, the adjustment was made in anticipation of a few key releases in the next couple of years. This analyst believes, according to CNBC, that estimates for 2019 and 2020 deserve a considerable bump due to the likely launch of Overwatch 2, a Blizzard mobile title, and the next entry in the critically acclaimed Diablo series.
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This is the exact quote from analyst Christopher Merwin: “We believe the recent sell-off in Video Game stocks has largely been due to technical factors relating to positioning around tax reform, and does not reflect any change in fundamentals for the group. We therefore see attractive entry points across our coverage, particularly for ATVI. We are raising our 2019 and 2020 estimates on account of a robust multi year pipeline of games — Diablo, Overwatch 2, and a Blizzard mobile title — which we don’t think Street estimates are fully taking into account.”
Now keep in mind this is far from a confirmation, but Merwin is pretty confident in his predictions. In fact, he gets even more specific. Merwin points to a new Diablo game releasing some time in 2019, which he believes will sell upward of 15 million units. Likewise, he suggests that we’ll be playing Overwatch 2 in 2020, which will sell 20 million units by the end of the year.
It’s a pretty aggressive prediction, and it’s one that we hope comes to fruition. Overwatch is a game we could see Blizzard milking for a few more years with the release of additional skins, events, and game modes, but a sequel would definitely be welcome. Diablo, on the other hand, is long overdue for its next entry. Fingers crossed!
