zynga

Zynga's 4th quarter better than expected

Zynga’s fourth quarter was strong and the company is humming along as its social games continue to lure users.

However, the company said first half sequential growth would be “slower” with a pick up in the last six months of the year.

That disclosure led to a 7 percent dip in after-hours trading.

Overall, Zynga’s quarter was better than expected. The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $435 million, or $1.22 a share, on revenue of $311.2 million. Non-GAAP earnings were 5 cents a share.

Wall Street was looking for fourth-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 3 cents … Read more

Zynga coming to a board game near you, courtesy of Hasbro

Zynga will allow the toymaker Hasbro to create games and toys based on its online properties, the two companies said.

While no products have yet been confirmed, the deal will produce real world products based on online games like "FarmVille."

Zynga is no stranger to partnerships, having produced branded versions of its games on a number of occasions. Last spring, it paired with Lady Gaga for the launch of GagaVille, a FarmVille environment inspired by Gaga's stylings.

For the time being, it looks like the relationship will be limited to Hasbro producing Zynga inspired games, but it … Read more

Study credits 'app economy' with 500,000 U.S. jobs

The surge in mobile software and other apps has also led to a surge in jobs, almost half a million just in the U.S., estimates a study out today from CEO network TechNet.

Dubbed the "app economy," the million or so apps created just for iOS and Android devices represent jobs for programmers, designers, marketers, managers, support staff, and other professionals, according to TechNet's report "Where the Jobs Are: The App Economy."

But how just many jobs? Analysis conducted for TechNet by Michael Mandel, president of South Mountain Economics and former chief economist for … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1579: Facebook goes public: The Winners and Losers (Podcast)

The Buzz crew talks about Facebook's historic IPO, and the challenges the company will face moving forward. Zynga is smiling, and so is the invite-only Pinterest. We've figured it out, and it's the new social network for girls or metrosexuals. "Into it, Not Into it" brings us vacuum-sealed couples, and that's all you need to know.

Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (640x360)

RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS (640x360)… Read more

Facebook's IPO filing: Top 10 surprises

Boy, was there was a lot to digest from yesterday's Facebook IPO filing.

The filing was a cacophony of financial figures, charts, stats, highlighting and discussing strategy, risks, and growth expectations. So to make it easier for you, CNET has compiled the top 10 surprises and things you need to know about Facebook.

1. Facebook is big: Okay, that's a pretty obvious one. But it's jaw-dropping to see just how big it really is. The company reported 845 million monthly users, rapidly closing in on 1 billion. Keep in mind most people will have that 500 million … Read more

Zynga shares soar on Facebook IPO

Maybe Zynga's decision to price its IPO at $10 a share wasn't so bad, after all.

The social-gaming company's stock has risen by more than 14 percent at times this morning, as investors responded positively to the company's strong ties with Facebook.

The world's largest social network yesterday filed its S-1 papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, kicking off plans to go public on a valuation that could possibly hit $100 billion. For starters in the IPO, Facebook hopes to raise $5 billion. A deeper dive into its financials yesterday revealed that … Read more

Andreessen on $1.5B fund: 'The opportunities seem very large'

The team of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, a duo since the go-go Netscape days of the mid-1990s, is on fire.

Today, their 3-year-old venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, announced that it has closed its third fund--this one, $1.5 billion, brings the total amount they've raised to $2.7 billion, which isn't bad for a time when VC returns have been lackluster, at best.

Andreessen Horowitz now has stakes in 90 consumer and enterprise businesses, including some of the hottest names in tech: Zynga, Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, Foursquare, Box, Groupon, Fab, Uber, and on and on. … Read more

Another day, another accusation that Zynga is copying competitors

Social-gaming company Zynga is once again in a competitor's crosshairs.

Buffalo Studios released an infographic yesterday, obtained by Venturebeat, that charges Zynga with copying its flagship game Bingo Blitz with its own as-yet-released Bingo-focused title, Zynga Bingo.

"Hello, Zynga," the infographic reads. "We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product, Bingo Blitz. Bingo Blitz has been growing throughout the past year and has obviously earned the attention of titanic forces in the industry. You've obviously played our game, Bingo Blitz, a lot, along with over one million other Daily … Read more

Scramble with Friends a worthy hit in the iTunes App Store

Scramble With Friends (99 cents), a new game from Zynga, has rocketed to the top of the iTunes App Store with classic Boggle-like gameplay so you can challenge your friends.

Gaming company Zynga has enjoyed huge success with hit iOS games including Words with Friends, Hanging with Friends, and Texas hold-'em game Zynga Poker. A new word game from the company took the tried and true classic board game, Boggle, and made it into an iPhone-friendly multiplayer game that's as addictive and fun as the original.

Like Boggle, the object of the game is to find as many … Read more

SEC repeatedly pressed Zynga for revenue details

This isn't the sort of news investors like to see from a newly public company.

The SEC today disclosed six emails it exchanged with Zynga in which the government prodded the social-game maker for specifics about its financials before letting it go public.

Zynga, the maker of FarmVille and CitiVille, raised $1 billion when it went public in December, becoming the biggest Internet IPO since Google.

A key concern for the SEC was just how many people were paying to play Zynga games and how Zynga was accounting for that revenue.

In a letter dated October 7, SEC special counsel Maryse Mills-Apenteng … Read more