Meanwhile, Zynga’s Q3 earnings turned out to be, well, not great, but less dire than had been feared. Revenue rose 3% to $317m, but the all-important bookings tally came in at $256m – the worst performance in almost two years – and average daily bookings fell 11% to $0.047. Zynga said daily active users had risen 10% over the same period last year to 60m, but that’s down sharply from 72m just three months ago. Monthly active users rose to 311m, up 37% from Q3 2011 and also up slightly from Q2 2012’s 302m. Overall, the company recorded a net loss of $52.7m, or seven cents per share, compared to net income of $12.5m in the same period last year.
Zynga also announced it would use $200m of its $1.5b cash on hand to buy back its own stock (why not, now that it’s trading at a 75% discount). The company is embarking on a cost-cutting program – including laying off 5% of its workforce and reducing spending on advertising, data hosting and outside services – that is expected to save them up to $20m in Q4. Before the earnings report was released, Zynga shares briefly touched $2.10, a new all-time low. Since the earnings report and the news of the new real-money gambling revenue stream, Zynga’s shares have gone on a rare upward trajectory, gaining over 10% in after-hours trading.