New York, May 21, 2026, 17:03 EDT
- Take-Two stuck to the Nov. 19, 2026 launch date for Grand Theft Auto VI, which calmed some worries about the game getting pushed back again.
- Fourth-quarter net bookings beat forecasts, but the guidance for fiscal 2027 missed what Wall Street was looking for.
- The stock moved higher after hours, with investors balancing clarity on timing against a weaker-than-expected outlook.
Take-Two Interactive Software said Thursday it’s sticking with the Nov. 19 launch date for Grand Theft Auto VI and posted quarterly bookings that beat Wall Street’s targets. That news gave investors another look at the company’s biggest upcoming title. Shares gained roughly 8% in after-hours trading, although Take-Two projected fiscal 2027 bookings below what analysts had forecast.
GTA VI’s timeline is in focus for Take-Two’s next year. The Grand Theft Auto series hasn’t had a major new title in 13 years, and Sherwood said investors care less about single quarter numbers and more about whether the game’s release date holds.
Take-Two guided for net bookings between $8.0 billion and $8.2 billion for fiscal 2027. Net bookings tracks the net value of digital and physical games and services sold, including licensing fees and in-game ads. Reuters reported analysts had been looking for an average of $9.10 billion.
The company turned in fiscal fourth-quarter net bookings of $1.58 billion, unchanged from last year but beating its own outlook. GAAP revenue hit $1.68 billion, up from $1.58 billion. Net loss came down hard to $59.5 million, or 32 cents per share, after a $3.73 billion loss last year.
Take-Two Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick said fiscal 2027 is set to hit “new record levels of operating performance,” pointing to GTA VI and the rest of the company’s line-up. Take-Two has NBA 2K27 slated for September and gave a Nov. 19 launch for GTA VI on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in its forward schedule. Business Wire
Zelnick told investors on a call that GTA VI is “arguably the most anticipated entertainment property of all time” and that Rockstar Games plans to launch its marketing campaign this summer, according to Sherwood. Sherwood also cited Morgan Stanley, which sees 40 million copies selling in the fiscal year ending March 2027. Sherwood News
Take-Two’s business is still driven mostly by recurring spending. The company reported recurrent consumer spending grew 7% in the fourth quarter, making up 82% of total net bookings. The measure includes virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases, and in-game ads.
Take-Two has a solid core to lean on as it moves toward GTA VI. The company listed NBA 2K26, Grand Theft Auto Online, Grand Theft Auto V, Toon Blast, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, WWE 2K26, and Red Dead Redemption 2 as its top booking generators.
Take-Two ended regular trading at $238.08, putting the company’s market cap at about $44.1 billion. The market was already tight. A Yahoo Finance piece the day before asked if the stock at $238 was trading past its fundamentals.
Take-Two is still up against heavyweights like Electronic Arts and Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard, Reuters said. GTA VI should still break out, given Rockstar’s franchise history and how big Grand Theft Auto has become.
Take-Two gave a first-quarter net bookings outlook of $1.32 billion to $1.37 billion, missing the $1.51 billion analysts had penciled in, according to Reuters. The company flagged that its outlook hangs on things like hitting release dates, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S adoption, costs to acquire mobile players, steady foreign exchange, and the wider economy.
GTA VI’s release date hasn’t shifted. But Take-Two is now anchoring a big fiscal-year outlook to that timing, though it’s left a cushion between its own guidance and what Wall Street expects. The gap likely sticks around until Rockstar gives a clearer sense of demand when marketing ramps up.
