Wall Street Watch Tuesday: Zynga Gets Lucky
Zynga (ZNGA) is hoping to end its summer on an upbeat note, so it's getting A Bit Lucky.
A Bit Lucky is a 20-person company that develops Facebook (FB) games. It will now be working for Zynga after news of the acquisition was made public on Monday afternoon.
After suffering during the past few months with headlines detailing several departures from its management team and what promises to be a heated legal battle with Electronic Arts (EA), it's refreshing to see Zynga make waves for news that may actually be good.
Zynga can use the break. The stock has shed more than two thirds of its value since the company went public at $10 just nine months ago.
Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, and it will likely be for far less than the roughly $180 million that Zynga shelled out for Draw Something parent OMGPop earlier this year.
A Bit Lucky's two flagship games -- Lucky Train and Lucky Space -- have been taken down from Facebook as of last night. The two social gaming experiences used to let folks carve out virtual worlds with a few bar-raising features. The developer's website claims that future games will be hardcore multiplayer games that could be played across various platforms including computers, tablets, and smartphones.
Other Things Worth Watching
There's some executive shuffling taking place in the tech space. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares slipped on Monday night after an announcement of the CFO's resignation. AMD has been challenged to grow its business at a time when consumers are weaning themselves off PCs. OCZ Technology (OCZ) revealed after Monday's market close that its CEO would be leaving the company. The company stumbled recently, reporting disappointing quarterly results. The market sometimes applauds new blood and new thinking at companies coming off rough patches, but no one likes uncertainty.
Apple (AAPL) has finally broken through the $700 ceiling. It was close -- $699.78 -- as it headed into to Monday night's close. Then afterhours trading took the stock above the round milestone for the first time shortly after the evening trading session began. With news earlier on Monday boasting that Apple received two million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 in the first 24 hours -- more than twice as many pre-orders that the company received during last year's iPhone 4S debut -- the market's clearly getting excited ahead of Friday's retail rollout.
Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the stocks in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Facebook. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Facebook and Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in Apple.
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