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Playtika’s latest progress engine is changing into more and more troublesome to worth inside the corporate that owns it.
After reporting second-quarter outcomes, Playtika’s market worth has fallen to about $1.1 billion, its lowest stage ever. The inventory has dropped roughly 25% over the previous two buying and selling days, underscoring investor issues concerning the firm’s shrinking consumer base, weaker money technology and the outlook for its older video games.
At the identical time, the Israeli gaming studio SuperPlay, which Playtika acquired for $690 million lower than two years in the past, is reportedly attracting curiosity from Chinese gaming big Tencent at a valuation of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.
That creates an uncommon scenario: SuperPlay may very well be value extra by itself than your entire public market worth of the corporate that owns it.
SuperPlay has rapidly grow to be Playtika’s most essential progress story. Its Disney Solitaire sport generated $142.4 million in income within the second quarter, up 15.5% from the earlier quarter and 288.6% from a yr earlier. The sport has grow to be nearly as giant as Playtika’s longtime flagship Bingo Blitz, which generated $145.1 million in quarterly income.
Playtika acquired SuperPlay in late 2024 from founders Eyal Netzer and Gilad Almog, each former Playtika executives. The deal included $690 million in money and an earnout that might attain one other $1.25 billion relying on the studio’s efficiency by way of 2027.
The higher SuperPlay performs, nonetheless, the extra Playtika might in the end should pay beneath that settlement. Playtika estimated its future contingent funds at $734 million on the finish of 2025 and raised that estimate to $829 million in its first-quarter 2026 outcomes. The firm paid $350 million in contingent consideration in the course of the first half of this yr.
Now the corporate is dealing with an much more putting query: whether or not to maintain SuperPlay or promote it.
Calcalist reported final month that Playtika was negotiating a potential sale of SuperPlay to Tencent at a valuation of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. If accomplished on the higher finish of that vary, the proposed sale can be value roughly 36% greater than Playtika’s whole present market capitalization.
The risk comes as Playtika’s broader enterprise is exhibiting indicators of pressure.
Revenue within the second quarter was $731.1 million, up 5% from a yr earlier, whereas adjusted EBITDA rose 23.4% to $206.1 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin jumped to twenty-eight.2%, from 16.8% within the first quarter.
But Playtika’s common every day energetic customers fell 9.1% yr over yr to eight million, whereas common every day paying customers fell 2.9% to 367,000. Bingo Blitz income fell 9.5% yr over yr.
The firm additionally generated solely $51.5 million in working money circulate in the course of the first half of the yr, down from $164.9 million a yr earlier. Free money circulate fell to $15 million from $119.6 million. Playtika ended June with $438.5 million in money, money equivalents and short-term investments, in contrast with $684.2 million on the finish of 2025.
Playtika additionally has roughly $2.4 billion in long-term debt, with vital maturities coming in 2028 and 2029. It suspended its dividend earlier this yr because it sought to protect monetary flexibility.
Against that backdrop, SuperPlay’s efficiency is changing into much more essential.
On the earnings name, CEO Robert Antokol argued that Disney Solitaire’s progress exhibits that Playtika can construct video games whose gamers stay engaged after the preliminary advertising and marketing push.
“In the first quarter, we increased our investment to grow this game,” Antokol mentioned. “This quarter, we have a clear answer. We brought our marketing spending down and the game still grew.”
CFO Tae Lee made the identical level, saying Playtika had “made a significant reduction in Disney Solitaire marketing quarter-over-quarter and revenue still grew over 15% sequentially.”
“Revenue that grows with new installs coming down, that only happens if the players are already in the game are staying and spending more,” Lee mentioned.
But that energy comes with an essential caveat. Playtika intentionally front-loaded its advertising and marketing spending on SuperPlay’s video games into the primary half of the yr due to the construction of the earnout. As a outcome, the corporate expects SuperPlay income to say no sequentially within the second half even because the video games proceed to develop yr over yr.
Playtika mentioned it plans to scale back total SuperPlay advertising and marketing funding by roughly 70% within the second half in contrast with the primary half.
“That reduction is also weighted towards the third quarter,” Lee mentioned. “The second half sequential pattern, it’s not linear. It’s timing. It’s not trajectory.”
Management nonetheless acknowledged that the corporate doesn’t but know the way giant Disney Solitaire can grow to be.
“Right now, frankly, we don’t know the full potential of Disney Solitaire,” Lee mentioned. “We’re going to keep on growing this game, but we’re going to do it in a way that’s profitable.”
That stands out as the central query for Playtika now. The firm has demonstrated that it will probably create a quickly rising new franchise, but it surely has but to point out that this progress can translate right into a sustained restoration for the broader enterprise.
Playtika is sustaining its full-year income steering of $2.75 billion to $2.85 billion and adjusted EBITDA steering of $750 million to $790 million. But administration now expects to complete towards the decrease finish of each ranges, citing the deliberate discount in advertising and marketing spending and weaker client spending.
The firm’s rationalization for the weaker outlook was unusually direct. Lee mentioned Playtika started seeing a slowdown within the trade in the course of the second quarter, which it attributed to weakening client confidence and protracted inflation.
“We saw that step down from May to June,” he mentioned. “We have that level of seasonality every year. It’s just that this year, we saw a step down that was greater than what’s typical.”
The distinction leaves Playtika in an uncommon place. Its latest main acquisition is producing one of many firm’s fastest-growing video games, whereas the father or mother firm itself is value lower than the reported valuation of that asset.
Whether Playtika in the end sells SuperPlay or continues to make use of it to rebuild the broader enterprise, the market is now inserting a remarkably low worth on the whole lot round it.
At its peak in February 2021, Playtika was valued at greater than $13 billion. Today, after the most recent selloff, the corporate is value about $1.1 billion.
SuperPlay, in the meantime, was purchased for $690 million and will reportedly command as much as $1.5 billion lower than two years later.
The query for Playtika is now not merely whether or not SuperPlay can produce one other hit. It is whether or not the corporate’s most useful progress asset can grow to be the inspiration of a restoration, or whether or not its worth is larger outdoors the corporate that constructed its public-market worth round it.
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