Zynga shares jump 16%, after beating the street

Q3 revenue comes in at $203 million, 7% higher than estimates

Shares of Zynga shot up over 16% in after-hours trading, after posting better-than-expected third quarter earnings late Thursday.

The stock was down 0.28%, or 1 cent, to a $3.54, during regular trading.

Zynga reported revenue of $203 million for the third quarter of 2013, down 36% from the same period last year and down 12% from the second quarter of 2013. The company reported non-GAAP earning per share of -$0.02. Analysts had been expecting to see a loss of 4 cents per share on revenue of $189 million. 

Zynga also beat its own expectations. In its second quarter earnings report, the company projected revenue in the range of $175 million to $200 million for Q3 2013, while non-GAAP EPS was projected to be in the range of ($0.05) to ($0.02).  The company was expecting a net loss is in the range of $43 million to $14 million, 

"I am pleased with our Q3 performance which exceeded our guidance both in terms of bookings and adjusted EBITDA. We are encouraged to see sightlines to growth and expect to be profitable for the full year on an adjusted EBITDA basis," said Don Mattrick, CEO of Zynga, said in a statement.

"Our teams are working hard to compete more aggressively on the Web, move to mobile and develop new hits, and I am happy with the early progress we have made. We believe our top franchises, Zynga Poker, FarmVille and Words With Friends can be evergreen in terms of consumer interest and we are focused on growing these franchises in fiscal year 2014. I am confident that Zynga is rewiring itself in a meaningful way that will strengthen the core of our business and put us back on track to achieve significant long term growth and profits."

Bookings for the quarter were $152 million, a decrease of 40% compared to the third quarter of 2012 and a decrease of 19% compared to the second quarter of 2013.

Net loss was $68 million for the third quarter of 2013, up from $53 million in the third quarter of 2012, and $16 million in the second quarter of this year. 

Online game revenue was $174 million, a decrease of 39% compared to the third quarter of 2012 and a decrease of 14% compared to the second quarter of 2013. Advertising revenue was $28 million, a of 9% compared to the third quarter of 2012, but an increase of 3% compared to the second quarter of 2013.

Zynga saw daily active users decrease 49%, from 60 million to 30 million, year to year. Quarter to quarter, they were down 23%, from 39 million. Web DAUs and Mobile DAUs were 16 million and 14 million in the third quarter of 2013, respectively.

Monthly active users were also down. They decreased 57% year to year, going from 311 million to 133 million. They were down 29% from 187 million last quarter. Web MAUs and Mobile MAUs were 82 million and 51 million in the third quarter of 2013, respectively.

Zynga is projecting revenue for Q4 to be in the range of $175 million to $185 million, with a projected net loss of between $31 and $21 million.

The company is projecting EPS to be in the range of ($0.05) to ($0.04), based on a share count of approximately 812 million to 822 million shares.

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