Weak Outlook Whacks Midway Games

SAN FRANCISCO - Video-game publisher Midway Games(MWY Quote - Cramer on MWY - Stock Picks) first-quarter loss beat Wall Street expectations, but the company guided significantly lower for the second quarter.

Shares of Midway were off 19 cents, or 8.1%, to $2.15 in recent after-hours trading.

Midway said Monday that its loss widened to $34 million, or 37 cents a share, from $19.8 million, or 22 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding stock option-related expenses and other charges, the company lost 29 cents a share, a penny better than the consensus analyst estimate from Thomson Financial.

Revenue grew to $29.9 million from $11.1 million a year ago. Analysts were expecting $27 million.

During the quarter, Midway saw its former CEO David Zucker step down, to be replaced by Matthew Booty as the interim president and chief executive officer.

For the second quarter, Midway expects revenue of about $18 million and a loss of 38 cents a share. Excluding charges, the company expects a loss of about 28 cents a share.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 15 cents a share on revenue of $41.57 million.

Midway is the first among the video-games publishers to report its earnings. THQ(THQI Quote - Cramer on THQI - Stock Picks) is set to report its fourth-quarter results Tuesday, followed by Activision(ATVI Quote - Cramer on ATVI - Stock Picks) on Thursday. Industry leader Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote - Cramer on ERTS - Stock Picks) will post its fourth-quarter earnings next week.