King Digital Entertainment, maker of the Candy Crush Saga video game, plunged as much as 26 per cent in extended trading after posting second-quarter sales that trailed analysts' estimates and cutting its 2014 outlook.
The shares slumped 21 per cent to $14.35 at 4:51 p.m. on Tuesday in New York after earlier falling to $13.40.
King is working to develop a wider assortment of games as the number of players for Candy Crush declines. With new titles such as Pyramid Solitaire Saga, King has been trying to avoid the decline that hit Zynga, which relied too much on FarmVille for revenue. King shares have slumped 19 per cent since the company's March initial public offering through the close of regular trading on Tuesday.
"Candy Crush declined more than we had expected" in the second quarter, said Riccardo Zacconi, King's chief executive officer, on a conference call on Tuesday to discuss the results. "Our non-Candy Crush games did not grow as much as we had expected and, as a result, did not offset the decline in Candy Crush."
Adjusted revenue rose 29 per cent to $593.5 million from a year earlier, the Dublin-based company said on Tuesday in a statement. That missed analysts' projections of $605.7 million.
