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The least we can say is that these first days of September are complicated for Ubisoft. The French video game giant is indeed facing a revolt from a Slovakian hedge fund, AJ Investments (holding less than 1% of the company's shares) which is demanding the departure of its CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot. At the same time, the stock price continues to fall.
Disgruntled shareholders
Our colleagues at the Wall Street Journal have echoed AJ Investments' discontent. In fact, in an open letter, the fund does not mince its words:
Recent quarterly results, which include the delay of key games such as Rainbow Six Siege and The Division to 2025 and a lowered revenue outlook for Q2 2024, have reinforced our concerns about management's ability to create shareholder value over the long term. Ubisoft's stock price has fallen more than 40% over the past year, compared to the rise of its competitors and indices.
In the wake of this, Jurak Krupa, founder and CEO of AJ Investments, said that Ubisoft should be privatized, meaning the company should no longer be listed on the stock exchange, or that it should be “sold to a strategic investor”. The leader also wants staff to be laid off ” to cut costs “. Let's remember that this has already been done, but clearly not enough in his eyes.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Why the stock is collapsing ?
In addition to this revolt, Ubisoft must face the massive drop in its stock price. The share price has fallen by more than 50% over the past year and is approaching its lowest level in ten years. At the time of writing, the stock is listed at 13.08 euros, compared to 85 euros at its peak during the Covid pandemic. In addition to the postponements reported above, sales of Star Wars Outlaws, which have not yet been made public, are not up to par according to Reuters.
However, the different editions of the title seem to have performed well in France and the United Kingdom according to recently published figures. We will therefore have to see these results observed over time.
Quoted by Sud Ouest, Jocelyn Jovene, financial analyst at Morningstar, believes that these difficulties reflect ” the pessimism of investors, who seem to doubt the ability of Ubisoft to sustainably recover its profitability.”
For his part, Charles-Louis Planade, an analyst at Midcap Partners, believes that the next Assassin's Creed is ” the big chunk, and by far “, of the end of 2024, and that it will have to ” perform better and longer ” than ” Star Wars Outlaws “. For now, Ubisoft has not wished to react.
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