Why Activision Blizzard Stock May Outperform Its Rivals in 2020

Shares of video game maker Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) have significantly outperformed competitors Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) year to date. Activision stock is up 26% since the beginning of the year, compared to less than 10% for its rivals at the time of this writing.

One reason for Activision's stellar performance is the release of Call of Duty: Warzone, a free-to-play battle royale game that was released in March and has brought in 60 million players. Investors expect Warzone to be a lucrative source of revenue for Activision, especially with stay-at-home orders in place, as players spend money on additional content while playing the game.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has a buy rating on all three gaming stocks, but he is particularly high on Activision Blizzard for this reason: The company behind Call of Duty generates more of its revenue from in-game spending than Electronic Arts or Take-Two. This means Activision Blizzard is less dependent on new game releases, which could play to its advantage in the short term.

Source Fool.com