Grand Theft Auto 6 Delay Fails to Dent Take-Two Investor Zeal

Investors in Take-Two Interactive Software won't see the latest Grand Theft Auto VI game hit the shelves this year like previously planned, but that isn't souring sentiment on the stock. 

The shares are trading less than one percent shy of a record reached earlier this month, despite the company pushing back the release of the sixth installment in the wildly popular franchise to next year. A key reason: excitement is running high about other games in the company's pipeline, including Borderlands 4, that are expected to be blockbusters.

“You can't put the whole gaming industry into a Netflix-style safety bucket, but you can view Take-Two that way, since there's no real impact from tariffs and its pipeline is so robust that the upside from new content should outweigh any negative we see in a downside scenario,” said Alec Boccanfuso, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, who said the stock is one of his top holdings.

The company earlier this month announced it was postponing Grand Theft Auto VI from this fall, news that knocked shares down from record levels. The pre-announced delay could de-risk results due after the close, especially as Take-Two said it continues to expect sequential increases and record levels in net bookings, a gauge of revenue, in both its 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.

The game, which has already missed multiple deadlines, is widely expected to be one of the biggest of the decade; Bloomberg Intelligence estimated it could generate $2 billion (roughly Rs. 17,115 crore) in net revenue in its first year of release. Yet despite that revenue being pushed out, Wall Street views the company as well positioned in a backdrop marked by heightened uncertainty. 

“I would obviously have loved for GTA 6 to come out this year, but there's more pressure on this game than any I've seen in my life, so it is better for them to delay and perfect it rather than risking the fallout of a bad user experience,” Boccanfuso said. “The revenue from the game has just been delayed, not erased, and I think the company's comments about bookings will be enough to hold investors over until it comes out.”

The stock has risen roughly 27 percent this year, making Take-Two one of the 10 best performers in the Nasdaq 100 Index. Video games have in general been a bright spot amid 2025's market volatility; a Goldman Sachs index of video-game publishers has risen more than 30 percent, compared with the Nasdaq 100's two percent rise. 

Take-Two rose 1.5 percent on Thursday.

Take-Two's fourth-quarter results are expected to show revenue growth of about 15 percent, with net earnings nearly doubling from the year-ago period. 

Since the announcement pushing back the launch into the company's 2027 fiscal year, analysts have slashed their expectations for 2026, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The view for net earnings in fiscal 2026 has dropped about 32 percent over the past month, while the revenue consensus has been lowered by 5.4 percent. This has made the stock look more expensive; shares trade around 32 times estimated earnings, a premium to their 10-year average of 26 and nearly twice EA's multiple of 18. 

But even with scaled back forecasts, revenue growth in Take-Two's fiscal 2026 is still seen accelerating to nearly 40 percent, up from just over five percent this year.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote that even with the delay, he is “highly positive on Take-Two's trajectory through 2027, driven by a stellar lineup of high-profile titles.”

There continues to be an incredible amount of hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto VI, and the release of a new trailer supported the stock last week, helping it repair some of the damage caused by the news of the delay. 

Haven Play

Ahead of Take-Two's report, peers have underlined the industry's safe-haven characteristics. Electronic Arts Inc.'s report last week featured a better-than-expected forecast for net bookings, while video-game platform Roblox Corp. also posted strong results, a sign the group isn't seeing headwinds related to the macro backdrop.

Roblox is up 37 percent this year while EA is up just 0.6 percent, though that largely reflects weak preliminary results that led to a selloff in January; it has risen 26 percent off a low hit that month.

Take-Two is the most-liked among the major US players, as more than 90 percent of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, compared with nearly two-thirds for Roblox and just over 40 percent for EA. However, it trades essentially in line with the average analyst price target, suggesting Wall Street doesn't see much upside over the coming 12 months at least for now.

“The stock's rally this year suggests decent expectations for this report, but I think it continues to look like a compelling value proposition,” said Nate Miller, vice president of product development and management at Amplify ETFs. “We want to make sure the new release date is locked down, but would still rather wait for a quality product than see something rushed out. There's real reputational risk if you get it wrong, and there's so much hype around Grand Theft Auto.”

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