Ubisoft delays profit and cash flow targets; stock tumbles in Paris
Ubisoft Entertainment delayed its profitability and cash-generation targets by one year to the fiscal year through March 2028 / Photo: Chebotaeva Ekaterina / Shutterstock.com
Shares of Ubisoft Entertainment, the developer behind “Assassin’s Creed” and “Star Wars Outlaws,” plunged 16% at the open on the Paris stock exchange on Thursday after the company reported a decline in revenue in the last fiscal year and issued a disappointing guidance for the current year.
Details
Shares of the video game maker tumbled 16% in Paris to EUR4.00 per share after the company reported a 17% decline in net bookings in its fiscal year 2025-2026, ended March 31. The figure fell to EUR1.5 billion as Ubisoft released fewer new games.
The net loss for the period surged sixfold to EUR1.48 billion, or EUR11.16 per share, under international financial reporting standards.
The outlook for fiscal year 2026-2027 also disappointed investors: the company expects free cash flow to fall to a low point, CEO and cofounder Yves Guillemot said. According to Guillemot, the transformation underway at the game developer “comes with difficult decisions and a disappointing short-term financial performance.”
Guillemot said he expects the company to return to positive free cash flow in fiscal year 2027-2028 and to resume sustainable growth the following year.
Recent company news
In January, Ubisoft announced a large-scale restructuring under which it would discontinue development of several games, close two divisions, and book a EUR1 billion loss in fiscal year 2025-2026. The actual figure ultimately came in higher.
The company was pushed toward the changes by difficulties tied to delayed game releases, which resulted in weak financial performance in fiscal year 2024-2025. The developer attempted to address the problems by creating a new division that would receive rights to several of its products and secured financing for the new structure from Chinese tech giant Tencent.
The difficulties, however, did not end there. In November, Ubisoft postponed the publication of its half-year financial results without explanation and asked Euronext to suspend trading in its shares. The company later said part of its revenue had been recognized improperly, resulting in a breach of a loan agreement. Ubisoft resolved the issue by selling a 26.3% stake in its new division to Tencent for EUR1.16 billion.
