The NASDAQ Composite Index was up approximately 1 percent in the middle of the day on Thursday, bolstered by news from game maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) and a better-than-expected jobs report.
Activision Blizzard reported a $286 million, or $0.23-per-share, loss for the fourth quarter of 2009 – steeper than the $72 million loss it posted in the year-ago quarter. But the company’s stock surged in early trading on news that sales of its latest Call of Duty video game were strong.
“For the calendar year, in the U.S. and Europe,” Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick noted, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the number one best-selling title overall.”
The company had record profits and its best-ever operating margins in 2009, and it revealed that it would repurchase up to $1 billion in stock and issue a $0.15 dividend.
Also pushing the NASDAQ higher was news that new jobless claims last week numbered 440,000, fewer than the averages recorded in both January and December. January unemployment claims averaged 466,000 claims per week and December claims numbered 455,000 per week.
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