Zynga Stock Drops 12 Percent After Pessimistic Analyst Note

Zynga shares plummeted on the Nasdaq today after Stern Agee questioned the company’s potential to deliver on fourth-quarter consensus estimates.

In a note, the brokerage firm said it expected Zynga to report bookings of $130 million and EBITDA of minus $18.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, and a further decline to $116 million in bookings and minus $17.2 million EBITDA in the following quarter. The new EBITDA estimates were revised downward by $4.5 million and $13.7 million, respectively.

The stock opened today just north of $4 per share, but by the closing bell, it had slipped 12.16 percent to $3.54 per share. It’s the first time Zynga has been in the $3.50 range since November of last year, but at approximately this time last year the stock was down around $2.40.

The social games company beat analyst expectations back in October when it reported its Q3 earnings, but it wasn’t all good news, as its reported monthly active user numbers continued to drop. At that time, CEO Don Mattrick said Zynga would focus on Farmville, Zynga Poker and Words With Friends, and CFO Mark Vranesh said he expected the company to be profitable in 2014.

Last Friday, the company announced that it would shut down one of its other social games, YoVille, on March 31. The announcement has, of course, angered YoVille fans.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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