Take-Two Bookings Miss the Company's Own Guide at $1.60 Billion as the GTA VI Outlook Holds

Take-Two Interactive reported fiscal second-quarter net bookings of $1.60 billion on Monday, below the $1.62 billion to $1.67 billion range it had guided.

The results were released after Monday's close. They cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026, the last full quarter before Grand Theft Auto VI reaches stores.

Net Bookings is Take-Two's operational metric, the net amount of products and services sold in the period. Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Chairman and chief executive Strauss Zelnick framed the quarter around the launch. "The launch of Grand Theft Auto VI is ten days away and, with pre-orders continuing to reach unprecedented levels, we expect to deliver an historic year for our company."

Bookings missed the guide; revenue and profit beat it

Total Net Bookings were $1.6 billion, down 18% from $1.96 billion a year earlier. The company's own guide, set in August, was $1.62 billion to $1.67 billion.

The shortfall against the low end was $18.7 million, a TickerGrove calculation.

On the bookings basis, recurrent consumer spending fell 9% to $1.3 billion. It accounted for 81% of total Net Bookings.

Recurrent consumer spending is money from ongoing play. It includes virtual currency, add-on content and in-game purchases.

Console games brought in $742.6 million of Net Bookings, 46% of the total. Mobile games brought in $707.6 million, or 45%.

GAAP net revenue, on the standard accounting basis, was $1.5 billion, down from $1.77 billion a year earlier. It beat the company's guide of $1.42 billion to $1.47 billion for the quarter.

On the revenue basis, recurrent consumer spending fell 5% to $1.21 billion. It accounted for 81% of GAAP net revenue, a separate basis from the bookings share above.

The GAAP net loss was $54.0 million, or $0.29 a share. A year earlier, the loss was $133.9 million, or $0.73 a share.

The guide had called for a loss of $0.75 to $0.84 a share. The actual loss was far narrower than the company planned.

EBITDA was $92.2 million, down from $116.7 million a year earlier. EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure, meaning it is not a standard accounting figure, and the guide had ranged from a $20 million loss to $4 million.

NBA 2K27 led the quarter and still came in light

NBA 2K was the largest contributor to Net Bookings. The Grand Theft Auto series, Toon Blast and Match Factory followed it on the company's list.

In its shareholder letter, the company said NBA 2K27 has sold over four million units since its September 4 release. GamesBeat reproduced the letter, including that count.

The letter called it the second-best launch in the series by Net Bookings. It also said the launch fell below the company's forecast, in a crowded release window.

GamesBeat reported that recurrent spending on the bookings basis fell against guidance for a 5% decline. It attributed the shortfall mainly to NBA 2K.

The letter also said Grand Theft Auto V has now sold nearly 235 million units worldwide. That was up five million units from the previous quarter.

The full year still runs through November 19

Take-Two reiterated its fiscal 2027 Net Bookings outlook of $8 billion to $8.2 billion. The year ends March 31, 2027.

It raised the GAAP net revenue outlook to $7.98 billion to $8.18 billion. In August, that range was $7.9 billion to $8.1 billion.

The fiscal 2027 outlook now calls for diluted earnings of $0.57 to $0.75 a share. The August outlook had started at $0.55 a share.

For the third quarter ending December 31, the company guided Net Bookings of $3.35 billion to $3.5 billion. That quarter includes the November 19 launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.

It guided GAAP net revenue of $3.27 billion to $3.42 billion for the third quarter. It guided net income of $250 million to $276 million, or $1.30 to $1.44 a share.

Cash and cash equivalents were $1.15 billion at September 30. At March 31, the fiscal year-end, they were $1.55 billion.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown starts with the market verdict: the results came after Monday's close. No settled reaction exists yet, and the first settled verdict comes Tuesday.

Whether pre-orders convert into the sales the held outlook assumes is unproven. The outlook depends on titles arriving on time, the release said.

Whether NBA 2K27 closes its gap in the second half is also open. The letter pointed to new in-game content planned for the rest of the year.

Tuesday brings the first settled verdict

What to watch: Tuesday's first settled session after the results. It will show whether investors price the bookings miss or the held outlook.

The November 19 launch is the second test, ten days after the results. Its first sales land inside the third-quarter guide given above.

The third-quarter report is the third test. It will show the launch's first weeks against that guide.