Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two blasts its way to record earnings — and stock price falls

Take-Two Interactive Software reported record sales and earnings for its third fiscal quarter, which ended on Dec. 31, thanks to enormous sales of Grand Theft Auto V.

Everybody knew it would be a big quarter. Take-Two and its developer Rockstar Games scored a huge hit with GTA V, which launched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Sept. 17. The companies previously announced that the open-world crime drama had reached $800 million in sales in its first 24 hours and $1 billion in its first three days. Currently, the game has shipped more than 32.5 million copies to retailers.