“Marvel Rivals” maker NetEase surges on a 35% spike in profit
NetEase, one of China’s largest video game companies and the developer behind massive titles like “Marvel Rivals” and the mobile game “Eggy Party,” is surging Thursday after a strong earnings report.
NetEase’s net profit spiked 35% on the quarter to the equivalent of $1.43 billion, nearly $300 million above Wall Street estimates. Its game sales rose 12% to $3.3 billion.
The company’s shares were up 13% in Thursday morning trading.
China’s video game market has struggled in recent years as the government cracked down on the industry — halting new game approvals for nine months in 2021 and 2022 — and limited play time for teenagers.
Lately, though, the Chinese industry has been surging. Massive titles like “Black Myth: Wukong” and “Marvel Rivals” have pumped sales, and developers including NetEase have pulled back on international investments. (The company laid off a US development team in February.)
On Wednesday, NetEase’s larger rival Tencent, which is behind games like “PUBG Mobile” and will soon own a chunk of Ubisoft, reported similar gaming growth, with China games sales climbing 24% and international sales 23%.
