Zynga
Bottom feeder: Zynga stock
November 21, 2012: 5:00 AM ETDespite a sizable plunge from spring highs, it's not yet game over for Zynga.
By Ryan Derousseau, contributor
FORTUNE -- Unlike its social media cousin Facebook, social-gaming company Zynga had a successful IPO. Priced at $10 a share in December 2011, Zynga (ZNGA) went public with a market cap of $7 billion. But after a couple of disastrous quarters -- highlighted by a decline in paying players of core games like FarmVille and struggles adapting to mobile platforms -- the stock has plummeted to near $2, down 85% from its March high.
MORE: The best of everything in tech this year
Has it fallen too far? A pair of big money managers think so. Janus Capital Management recently bought 23 million shares, and Morgan Stanley (MS) upped its stake from 26 million to nearly 32 million shares. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter points out that Zynga has $1.6 billion in cash, $1.1 billion in revenue, and 311 million active users. He argues that if CEO Mark Pincus can control costs, attract more paying gamers, and win back Wall Street's trust -- all big ifs -- the stock could "double quickly."
This story is from the December 3, 2012 issue of Fortune.
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What is going to happen to Zynga?
A former Zynga exec says not to count the company out.
By Nabeel Hyatt (nabeelhyatt.com), contributor
FORTUNE -- If my email inbox is any indication, there's a lot of speculation about Zynga (ZNGA) right now. Is it a good buy? Is it even going to exist in the year?
I can understand why people are obsessed over this. After all Zynga is one of the benchmark companies of Web 2.0. If the first wave MORE
Oct 5, 2012 11:28 AM ET -
Big payday for ex-Zynga Schappert
Ex-Zynga exec netted $24 million.
FORTUNE -- Don't feel too bad for John Schappert, who yesterday resigned as Zynga's (ZNGA) chief operating officer after being neutered in a corporate reorganization. Seems he did pretty well for himself, considering that he only was with the company for 15 months.
Based on SEC filings, it appears that Schappert made $24.16 million during that period. Or, put another way, nearly $57,000 per day. Here's the breakdown:
Signing bonus: $10 MORE
Dan Primack - Aug 9, 2012 1:54 PM ETPosted in: John Schappert, Zynga -
Zynga COO John Schappert quits
Stripped of responsibilities, senior company official resigns.
FORTUNE -- John Schappert has resigned as chief operating officer of Zynga (ZNGA), just weeks after losing oversight of game development in a corporate restructuring.
Schappert had joined the social gaming company in May 2011, after having served as COO of Electronic Arts (EA). It is not believed that a recent EA lawsuit against Zynga played any role in Schappert's resignation.
"We can confirm that John Schappert has MORE
Dan Primack - Aug 8, 2012 5:08 PM ETPosted in: John Schappert, Zynga -
FraudVille? Zynga sued for insider trading
Social gaming company faces class action lawsuit.
FORTUNE -- Zynga (ZNGA) and its bankers were hit with a class action lawsuit yesterday, accusing them of improperly allowing certain insiders to dump shares ahead of a disappointing earnings report.
Defendants include the social networking company, many of its senior executives, its entire board of directors (save for Ellen Simioff, who joined earlier this month) and bankers Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), J.P. MORE
Dan Primack - Jul 31, 2012 1:38 PM ET -
Zynga gets physical
Social gaming giant seeks to expand its brand.
FORTUNE -- Zynga (ZNGA) has made billions of dollars by digitizing "physical" games like poker and Scrabble. Now it's looking to complete the circle.
The San Francisco-based company has begun signing offline branding deals with everything from toy-makers to apparel retailers to television studios. It's unclear if the company hopes such efforts will generate significant revenue, but it certainly believes that its brands can have MORE
Dan Primack - Jun 26, 2012 3:04 PM ETPosted in: Zynga -
Zynga breaks down share sale
Who is selling what?
Zynga (ZNGA) this morning revealed who would be selling shares as part of a secondary stock offering, via an amended regulatory filing. The offering originally was designed to raise $400 million, but now has expanded to upwards of $687 million.
Here's the breakdown:
CEO Mark Pincus: 16.5 million shares, leaving him with around 94 million shares
Dan Primack - Mar 23, 2012 7:04 AM ET
Institutional Venture Partners: 5.8 million shares, leaving it with around 28.5 million shares
Union Square Ventures: 5.2 MOREPosted in: Venture Capital, Zynga -
The deal that saved OMGPOP
Not too long ago, OMGPOP was on the brink.
Zynga (ZNGA) yesterday announced that it has acquired fellow social game publisher OMGPOP, for a reported $210 million (including employee retention bonuses). Sixteen months ago, it would have been unthinkable.
For the uninitiated, OMGPOP is the creator of Draw Something, a Pictionary-like game that has become the top mobile and top Facebook game since being launched just six weeks ago (bumping off Zynga's Words with Friends).
But OMGpop MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 22, 2012 10:22 AM ET -
OMG(pop)? Zynga plans announcement
Did Zynga buy OMGpop?
Social gaming company Zynga (ZNGA) just sent out word that it will be making "a news announcement" via conference call at 3pm. No embargoed details for media folks, with all press materials to be distributed after the call.
This could be all sorts of things: Zynga wants to talk about its secondary share offering. Mark Pincus is stepping down to become Mitt Romney's running mate. Zynga has hired MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 21, 2012 1:31 PM ET -
Who's selling Zynga?
Social gaming company Zynga (ZNGA) yesterday filed for a $400 million secondary stock offering, three months after going public. All of the proceeds will go to "selling shareholders." Beyond that, however, details are unclear.
Take a look at the following chart, from page 117 of the offering document (click to enlarge):
You'll notice that every current holder of Class B stock is listed as having no Class B stock following the MORE
Dan Primack - Mar 15, 2012 11:14 AM ETPosted in: Venture Capital, Zynga
