When most people think of video game stocks, names like Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NTDOY) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) come to mind. And they should. Nintendo is arguably responsible for setting the bar in the home-entertainment console after the Atari came and went in the early 80’s (and at-home gaming faded away), while Electronic Arts was and still is one of the most prolific developers of video games… particularly sports games.
The video gaming business is always evolving though, and while EA and Nintendo are certainly still key parts of it, the rise of mobile games and more recently the rise of eSports in addition to the growth in the number of game-development tools has opened up the race to players of all sizes. That’s allowed a litany of publicly-traded smaller companies into the game, and many of them have become very investment-worthy. There’s one in particular, however, that may merit a closer look.
It’s called SPYR Inc (OTCMKTS:SPYR). Pronounced ‘spire,’ the company only got into the mobile gaming business a couple of years ago with its inaugural game called Plucky. It’s been busy in the meantime though, developing and acquiring a handful more games, and showing increasing levels of success and know-how with each. It was the most recent acquisition of the publishing rights to a game called Pocket Starships, however, that graduated SPYR from ‘curious’ to ‘completely compelling.’
Pocket Starships is a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) free-to-play game where players can build and pilot numerous starships in real-time space battles, recruit players and form strong alliances, and battle with and against thousands of other players worldwide on a quest for galactic domination. In other words, it’s a lot of fun.
That’s not the really interesting aspect of Pocket Starships, however. What’s so amazing is that it’s playable on a variety of different systems in real time, where some players using a PC can battle against other players using an Android smartphone while teaming up with other players using an iPad.
Mike Turner, VP of Strategic Partnerships, recently explained of the game’s cross-platform flexibility:
how to buy stock: China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd.(CHL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
In trading on Thursday, telecommunications services shares fell 0.12 percent. Meanwhile, top losers in the sector included China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: CHL), down 3 percent, and Partner Communications Company Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ: PTNR), down 1.5 percent.
- [By David Goodboy]
Rumors are that Apple will use this opportunity to announce the long-awaited deal with China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), which is the world's largest cellphone carrier with more than 700 million active users. Clearly, there are impediments in the way, but the potential for a lower-priced iPhone for this market means strong possibilities remain. This deal would be a major upside catalyst for Apple shares.
- [By Motif Investing]
The most heavily weighted names in the motif are China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE: CHL), Aibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA), Baidu Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU), India's HDFC Bank (NYSE: HDB) and Russia's Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (NYSE: MBT).
how to buy stock: Huntsman Corporation(HUN)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lee Jackson]
Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) had its executive chairman selling stock last week. Jon Huntsman parted with 600,000 shares, and the share priceranged from $17.25 to $17.27. The total for the trade was posted at $10 million.The company manufactures and sells differentiated organic and inorganic chemical products worldwide. The stock traded Friday at $18.10, so some left on that table as well.
- [By Paul Ausick]
Venator Materials PLC is a maker of titanium dioxide pigments and additives. The company is being spun out of Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) and plans to offer 22.7 million shares in an expected price range of $20 to $21, raising $465 million at an implied market cap of $2.18 billion. Underwriters include Citi, Goldman Sachs, BofA/Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, UBS Investment Bank, RBC Capital Markets, Moelis & Company, HSBC Corp., Nomura Securities, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Academy Securities, and Commerzbank Capital. Shares are scheduled to price Wednesday and begin trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VNTR.
how to buy stock: Westport Innovations Inc(WPRT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
Westport Fuel Systems Inc (USA) (NASDAQ: WPRT) shares were also up, gaining 16 percent to $3.48 on upbeat Q3 results.
Equities Trading DOWN
how to buy stock: Semtech Corporation(SMTC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ: SMTC) is projected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.27 per share on revenue of $128.38 million.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: OLLI) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $190.44 million.
how to buy stock: Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc(AHT)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin] Related AHT 25 Biggest Mid-Day Gainers For Friday Mid-Day Market Update: Hortonworks Drops Following Weak Results; Freshpet Shares Spike Higher Ashford Hospitality Trust's (AHT) CEO Montgomery Bennet on Q2 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
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