Sony Stock Value Drops $20B After Microsoft Activision Deal
Shares in Sony have lost 13% of their value as traders at the Tokyo Stock Exchange reacted to news of Microsoft's plans to acquire Activision Blizzard. (H/T Bloomberg)
This is the largest stock price drop for Sony since it was forced to recall 100,000 laptop batteries because they were a fire hazard in October 2008. In total, Sony lost $20 billion in market value as a result of the drop. This is despite Sony's consistent lead in sales and exclusive games over Microsoft in the last several console generations.
Sony stock closed -12.79% or -US$20 billion in terms of market cap in Tokyo (where it's already Wednesday).
— Dr. Serkan Toto / Kantan Games Inc. (@serkantoto) January 19, 2022
That is more than what Take-Two is worth right now.
Total overreaction of course, but gaming tends to emotionalize investors in strange ways. https://t.co/F7DjNuvpyw
And that's not all the massive Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal has done to shake up the market. Square Enix, Capcom and Konami each saw their stock price rise 5%, and Ubisoft's price jumped up 11% as investors looked to get in on what they think will be Microsoft's next big acquisition.
Because Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard at $95 per share — about 45% more than each share was worth prior to the announcement — shareholders can expect a significant windfall from the deal when it's finalized in 2023.