Keywords Studios Share Discussion Threads

[saucepan] 07/11/2016 07:28

Over reliant on just a couple of customers??

[abarclay] 07/11/2016 07:24

Over reliant on just a couple of customers
when that dries up beware

[bigbigdave] 07/11/2016 07:21

Excellent stuff :o) Could one of the Slater experts confirm if KWS has achieved zulu status yet

[rivaldo] 07/11/2016 07:20

Beautiful :o))

Edison were going for 12.2m euros adjusted PBT - so the new minimum of 14m is at least 15% ahead...and 14m is just the minimum expected.

Plus encouraging comment looking forward:

"We, therefore, remain very confident of our strategy and, at this early stage, maintain our current, cautiously optimistic expectations for 2017."

[abarclay] 07/11/2016 07:14

made 12.7 cents ast year, so 10.2p


PE almost 40

looks like might crash

[saucepan] 07/11/2016 07:12

"Significantly Ahead of Current Market Expectations" - what a stock!

This should not be overlooked, too: we maintain a healthy pipeline of selectively chosen acquisition targets which we continue to review. I don't think it will be long before there is further earnings-enhancing news.

[bamboo2] 03/11/2016 18:15

I saw the H&S with upward neckline [orange] develop and became concerned enough to change my recent positive stance on the chart pattern.
The initial target is approx 400, there is further support around 380 and 350.

[davr0s] 03/11/2016 13:09

Maybe , maybe not. Big 80k trade gone through so let's see where price goes this afternoon

[bigbigdave] 03/11/2016 13:02

Shake. Added few.

[davr0s] 03/11/2016 12:59

What's going on ? Been stopped out so will take stock

[cfro] 26/10/2016 08:26

I agree, a very exciting acquisition and 'immediately earnings enhancing' too.

Only 8 people, but i would have thought that would be an ideal number that would fit into the group with no problems. (One could imagine the problem in taking over a larger company with, say, 100 employees for example with the added integration problems, lay-offs etc..).

[saucepan] 26/10/2016 07:57

Clearly a very strategic acquisition of typical KWS quality - should get us motoring again, I suspect.

[glaws2] 26/10/2016 07:46

Good as it is to see another acquisition let's keep this in context - it's 8 people - two PhDs & 4 MSc. See

[rivaldo] 26/10/2016 07:18

This may be a small acquisition, but it looks extremely exciting. In particular (as well as being earnings-enhancing):

"Player Research was founded in 2012 by Graham McAllister and employs a number of PhDs and MScs at its research laboratory in Brighton, with expertise in fields such as Human-Computer Interaction, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Experimental Psychology, Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology."

This could launch KWS into all sorts of new areas.

[bigbigdave] 26/10/2016 07:04

Excellent

Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")



Acquisition of Player Research Ltd

Service extension into player behavioural research



Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired Player Research Ltd ("Player Research") for a total consideration of up to £1.3 million from its founder, Graham McAllister, and others (the "Sellers"). Based in Brighton, UK, Player Research provides consulting and user testing from its state of the art play testing laboratory to mobile, console and VR game developers throughout the world, helping them to attract, retain and monetise players.



The acquisition of Player Research is in line with Keywords' strategy to extend its services, with the objective of providing end to end services to its global client base covering all aspects of game production and live operations support. Player Research's technology, methodology and knowhow can be exported to Keywords secure production facilities in locations like Montreal, Dublin, Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing providing much increased capacity, whilst also expanding the services in a way that adapts them to the varied nationalities and cultures allowing clients to better tailor their games for their targeted audiences.



Player Research was founded in 2012 by Graham McAllister and employs a number of PhDs and MScs at its research laboratory in Brighton, with expertise in fields such as Human-Computer Interaction, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Experimental Psychology, Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology.



Under the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing, Keywords is paying an initial consideration comprised of £700,000 in cash and the issue to the Sellers of 65,280 new ordinary shares in Keywords, which will be subject to a two-year lock in period. Further cash consideration of up to £300,000 may be payable subject to Player Research achieving certain targets within two years of the acquisition.



Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 65,280 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Admission of the new shares is expected to take place at 8.00am on 31 October 2016. The Company's total issued share capital following admission will consist of 54,404,001 ordinary shares of one pence each with one voting right per share. The above figure of 54,404,001 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they can determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company following admission.





Giacomo Duranti, Chief Operating Officer, commented:

"Keywords and Player Research have been exploring opportunities together over the past 3 years. As both companies have expanded their services to multiple points along the games lifecycle the fit between us has become increasingly apparent. We believe that by integrating Player Research within the Group, and rolling out its services into our existing studios to provide reach into all major gaming regions, we will be able to leverage the intellectual capital, talent pool and execution capability of both organisations to significantly enhance the value we are able to bring to our clients. We are delighted to be able to welcome Player Research's highly talented team to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to build upon Player Research's excellent reputation and loyal client base."

[bamboo2] 25/10/2016 09:17

KWS chart could possibly be described as a cup and handle. Very similar target as before at approx 488. May be an attempt on 500. I have some quite juicy targets in the longer term. [excuse the poor cup drawing]

Pattern should resolve within the next five trading sessions. Cheers

[tattooed93] 18/10/2016 08:10

Frank

Patisserie Holdings (CAKE): Upgrade from Hold to Buy (BUY)
A positive site visit this week has given us comfort on FY16 (September) numbers and our focus now turns to FY17 forecasts, which bear upside risk, in our view. The share price remains 10% below pre-referendum levels and has been largely ignored in the post Brexit recovery. We reaffirm our 350p price target and upgrade from Hold to Buy.
Analyst: Roger Tejwani



Forecasts have upside. Lovely could see these blow 400p on results on 27 Nov

[alphabeta4] 17/10/2016 12:15

Brief mention in IC on page 28 - 'The market has also shown a willingness to pay for growth, especially for those stocks that have delivered upgrades to forecasts; Fevertree (FEVR), Boohoo.com (BOO) and Keywards Studios (KWS) spring to mind.'

I personally suspect however it may be due to the Playstation VR launch last week and resulting articles and coverage. I've also noticed a jump in advertising and Pepsi adverts announcing Playstation VR giveaways.

[cfro] 17/10/2016 09:45

I wonder if it had been mentioned somewhere over the weekend. Great breakout anyhow. :-)

[rivaldo] 17/10/2016 08:50

Cheers Alphabeta4, likewise.

New highs now - perhaps tipped somewhere? I know Momentum Investor came out this weekend.

[alphabeta4] 14/10/2016 19:18

Hi Rivaldo, good to see you here.

Just an observation - On your post 450 it mentioned the global video game market being worth $115bn. On the linked FT article ( there were two estimates on VR hardware sales, one by Juniper predicting $5bn 2016, $50bn 2021 and one by IHS which was much more cautious at $1.6bn 2016, $7.9bn 2020.

Interestingly the IHS also had software sales which based on the $8bn hardware sales came out at c$3.3bn.

So overall these can be used to get a guess on potential software sales of $20bn if the max $50bn of hardware is achieved with a lower end figure of the $3.3bn. So overall it would form 3-18% of the computer sales figure. Thought this might help us get a steer at the potential we're looking at.

[bigbigdave] 14/10/2016 16:37

Nice little close and nice chart bamboo2, agree about the bowl, bodes well for next week imo.

[cfro] 14/10/2016 12:52

Great looking consolidation pattern on the chart.