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Technology Stocks : THQ,Inc. (THQI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zia Hossen who wrote (3506)	2/25/1998 4:11:00 PM
From: Winston Kim	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14266

From briefing. THQ INC (THQI) 27 15/16 +3 15/16. Sorry we didn't get this one to you earlier in the day. Somehow the earnings report slipped past us. Nevertheless, you had better hold on, because this ride is going to be exciting. For the 4th qtr, the video game maker reported earnings per share of $0.84, up 342% from the year-ago. Net income jumped 512%. Sales leapt 139% (to $48.9 mln). Operating margins almost tripled to 12.1% (from 4.4%). Lastly, EPS exceeded the First Call estimate of $0.48 a share by 75%. Of course, one must take into account that the 4th qtr will always be, by far, the company's strongest. But even by strictly comparing 4th qtr results, top-line growth in the latest period was almost 3 times stronger than the 43% growth experienced from Q4 '95 to Q4 '96. Commenting on its prospects, the company said: "With the expected continuing growth in sales of both Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 hardware, coupled with our impressive product line, 1998 is shaping up to be a year of excellent growth in revenue and earnings." However, there is one dark spot in this report. In 1997, THQ derived 39% of its revenues from sales of products based on its license with WCW World Championship Wrestling . The company's written license agreement with the WCW allows THQ to continue to market and sell products based on the license through June 1999. While THQ and the WCW are currently in negotiations with respect to the terms of a written extension to the agreement, the company has been advised that the WCW is also having discussions with other parties. But for now, the stock is basking in the sun, riding the company's blow-out quarterly performance to a new 52-week high.