Analyst downgrades Atari's rating

Wedbush Morgan's Pachter says, "We're jumping off the roller coaster," as he drops endorsement of publisher's stock.

After Atari announced its disappointing quarterly earnings yesterday, the publisher's stock promptly lost a third of its value in after-hours trading. While it has recovered the better part of that setback in trading today, the bad news is starting to pile up.

In its report, Atari revealed sharply declining revenues and a loss of $4.8 million where it made $19.6 million in profit the year before. It also acknowledged that executive vice president and CFO Diane Baker had left the company "to pursue a new opportunity."

As a result, industry research firms downgraded its rating of Atari stock today from "Buy" to "Hold." In a note to investors, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter said, "We're jumping off the roller coaster," saying that the company's turnaround to sustained profitability will take longer than previously expected and that Baker's departure leaves the company with "a serious management void."

Atari has lost money in five of the last six quarters, and Pachter expects it to lose money in four of the next five. The company's stock was trading for 75 cents at press time, up 15 cents from its opening price this morning, but still down 13 cents from Thursday's close.

30 Comments

  • southy787

    Posted Feb 13, 2006 2:02 am PT

    Looks like its soon to be the end of Atari

  • ewjim

    Posted Feb 12, 2006 11:49 pm PT

    Not god, not good, NOT GOOD AT ALL - Atari is good company and it making great games!!!

  • judog1

    Posted Feb 12, 2006 10:11 pm PT

    rdo:dosn't epic publish thru atari? ut 2007 alone could save them.

    Atari might mess it up though.

  • DrunkMonkeyFist

    Posted Feb 12, 2006 8:27 pm PT


    The chart pattern on (NasdaqNM:ATAR) doesn't look too good , they've been in a downward spiral ever since the bad quarterly numbers from last August/ Sept .
    But with that being said , it could also be a great time to get in on cheap shares , as the whole sector has been getting beat up including TTWO (take-two interactive), whose shares have shaved off around 50% since the same time period and MWY (midway) who's shares have been plummeting far worst(percentagewise) for the last few months.

    Despite a few really bad titles , the games that have been coming out , or due to be out aren't really that bad qualitywise. I think the whole indusstry's been seeing a slowdown of late , and its just a matter of time before sales pick up again .

    JMHO

  • Kounji

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 11:55 pm PT

    If they die probably no one is ever going to use the name again and that will be very sad. Its like the end of an american household name. Despite its failures when people once though of gaming they thought atari and to see that go even though ts just a name bought by a company to sell games the name has a special place in many of our hearts. Someone just find one atari game that you like and just buy it please...

  • thesineater

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 8:54 pm PT

    In Atari's case it does not matter who buys them, whether they have brand new programmers, new CEO's or solid financial backing. For some reason the Atari name must mean " we don't understand how to make great games". Nolan Bushnell and gang plunged the Atari name into the depths of hell and it will take a miracle from god to return them to the glory they once enjoyed. Nintendo could buy them and even they would be unable to make them profitable. So once again, IT DOES NOT MATTER if the same people from the '80's are working for them or not. The Atari name brand seems to be unable to break the trend of cranking out uninspiring, non-creative, crappy suck games! Face it, the Atari brand is close to becoming history!

  • rbarahona

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 4:49 pm PT

    I agree that it's a shame that companies are having a hard time. Even more when these companies are the ones that are here from the beginning. I hope that Atari can find a way to stay alive.

  • Phantom_2003

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 2:38 pm PT

    that's true, the unreal games are a well known known brand, there's no chance of UT2K7 failing unless they totally change it and make it suck

  • cyprus646

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 2:18 pm PT

    Can anyone here say "bankrupt" ?

  • rdo

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 11:59 am PT

    dosn't epic publish thru atari? ut 2007 alone could save them.

  • Tranceplant

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 11:30 am PT

    I can't remember saying to myself: "This Atari game is a game I MUST BUY!!"
    Hmm... Nope.

  • southy787

    Posted Feb 11, 2006 12:58 am PT

    Goodbye Atari........maybe?

  • Jedi_Osborn

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 11:06 pm PT

    ugh, that's not good at all........

  • barkera0

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 10:15 pm PT

    Poor Atari, but they have lived a long good life

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 8:44 pm PT

    bad news for Atari.........

  • rusty_ghia

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 6:27 pm PT

    Some people don't understand that today's Atari is NOT the same Atari that almost killed gaming for good. Infogrames just bought Atari's name and stable of games.

  • Viquist

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 6:09 pm PT

    Atari lost it's shine a long time ago but I give them credit for hanging in there so long... even if it is with another company... Atari needs to do something really good really fast or it's so long Atari.

  • thesineater

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 4:24 pm PT

    Well, what do you expect from the company that brought about the videogame market crash of '83/'84. With Atari 2600 software titles like E.T. and other graphically inept games, they were doomed to fail from the start. Atari has sucked and failed at every attempt since Nintendo put videogames back on the map. For me, Atari ( like Acclaim) is a brand I avoid at all cost. Just hang it up already Atari!

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 3:45 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 3:45 pm PT

    Wow, bad news for publishers just keeps getting worse. Good luck to Atari, I want to see that new Unreal Tournament 2007.

  • portalgecko

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 3:35 pm PT

    Can't say I'm too upset, because lately Atari's games haven't been too great. But this is Atari we are talking about, I don't want them to go just because of a recent bad record

  • Orasion_Seiz

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 3:32 pm PT

    its not looking good for Atari...

  • Kfoss

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 2:43 pm PT

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
    wow thata a terrible stock price...*sad face*
    if only, Path of Neo ,worked out for them!!!!!!

  • i5eng4rd

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 2:25 pm PT

    Its worrying to see so many game companies going down the toilet . This cant bode well for the industry.

  • XlpranksterlX

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 1:49 pm PT

    Jeez atari its time you find another reggie and start turning things around or you sell your franchises and become history.

  • StealthyBurrito

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 1:25 pm PT

    It's no longer "And then along came Atari!" It's more like "And then along went Atari!"

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 1:12 pm PT

    So much for Atari. . . again. Actually I shouldn't say that. A "hold" rating means keep it for long-term returns. Thus, now may actually be a good time to buy, if I thought they were publishing anything interesting any time soon.

  • LanceSummerhous

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 1:00 pm PT

    Infogrames

  • frankeyser

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 12:45 pm PT

    who were they before they bought the atari name again? i cant remember

  • Paul_TheGreat

    Posted Feb 10, 2006 12:43 pm PT

    Atari may be next to go down.

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