THQ reports revenue to be significantly higher than expected

THQ reported today that it will have higher revenue than previously expected for the fourth fiscal quarter ending March 31. The original expectations for the fourth quarter 2012 revenues was previously $130 million to $150 million. Today’s preliminary unaudited report from THQ shows a much higher $160 million to $170 million, an increase of $20 to $30 million.

The company has been written off as a casualty of the disruption in the video business, but it’s not at death’s door yet. Calabasas, Calif.-based THQ attributes its revised financials to stronger than anticipated sale of Saints Row: The Third. That title launched last fall has now shipped more than four million units. THQ also had better-than-expected digital sales, and stronger sales than expected for UFC Undisputed 3.

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The company also reported it expects to lose 10 cents to 20 cents a share, lower than a previously expected loss of 35 cents to 50 cents a share. In addition, THQ expects to have a cash balance of $76 million by the end of March 2012, which is three times as much as they predicted, due to better-than expected operating expenses and earlier-than-expected cash receipts. They also report no outstanding new borrowings on their $50 million credit line.

THQ has laid off hundreds of employees in recent months, driven in part by the failure of its uDraw tablet, a hardware device for the consoles. Sales of uDraw were promising on the Wii two holidays ago, but the tablet failed miserably on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 during the most recent holidays. THQ had to take a huge write-down on hardware inventory as a result. The company also recently converted its Warhammer 40,000 online game — which has already been in development for years — into a single-player game.

THQ will report final results for the fiscal fourth quarter along with its outlook on expected 2013 results on May 15, 2012.