King Digital Entertainment’s debut in the stock market during March was amongst the worst this year in the U.S. The stock fell by 16% on the first day it traded, as investors were worried the Candy Crush Saga mobile device game maker was a one and out wonder.
On Tuesday, the company gave those same investors something else to worry about. King said that the Candy Crush Saga bookings had fallen more than they had expected, which prompted the firm to issue a forecast that was downbeat for the ongoing quarter and the rest of the year.
Shares of King plummeted over 21% in trading after hours to $14.11.
The stock tumbled in May, falling over 30% below its price at the IPO during one point.
In June, the stock rallied as Wall Street analysts argued the business was successfully diversifying from the Candy Crush game to other games.
King is a huge advocate of the free to play games business model, as it offers games that are free and makes money from the users who pay for different virtual goods and to access tournaments.
The company counts its booking measurement as vitally important. That represents the gross proceeds received through those transactions.
However, on Tuesday, the firm said its bookings for the second quarter dropped by $30 million or approximately 5% compared to the first quarter. Bookings were $611 million for the quarter.
The company announced that the drop in bookings was primarily due to Candy Crush.
King announced that it expected that bookings for the ongoing quarter would also decrease and end the quarter $500 million or $525 million, which would be a drop of between 14% and 18% from the recently ended second quarter.
The company also forecasted that bookings for the year would be between $2.25 billion and $2.35 billion, which were down from its previous estimate of between $2.55 billion and $2.65 billion.
