Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. are down 2.9% in Thursday trading after the company said that it has delayed the release of of its Red Dead Redemption 2 title until October. The game has already been delayed once before, as it was originally slated to launch last October before the company pushed that back as well. “Getting the long tail of the game correct is more important than recognizing the units two quarters earlier,” wrote KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Evan Wingren, who rates the stock at overweight with a $144 target. “We’d take advantage of the weakness on that belief.” The game will now be released in the same quarter as a new Call of Duty from Activision Blizzard Inc. and a new Battlefield from Electronic Arts Inc. , he added. Wingren had predicted, before the delay announcement, that Take-Two would sell 20 million units in the year following its launch. Red Dead Redemption 2 has been considered a key catalyst for shares of Take-Two, which also publishes the Grand Theft Auto Franchise. Take-Two’s stock is up 127% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 Index is up 24%.
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