GTA V's Trevor character.

Grand Theft Auto publisher nearly doubles its revenue year-over-year

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Grand Theft Auto V publisher Take-Two Interactive beat earnings expectations for its latest quarter.

The company reported the results of its fiscal 2014 today, and it generated $233.2 million in revenue in Q4. That’s down from $303.1 million year-over-year. The company generated 21 cents earnings per share (EPS), which is better than the 10 cents that Wall Street analysts were predicting.

For its full fiscal 2014, the company produced $2.42 billion in revenue. That is up 97 percent from $1.2 billion in 2013. EPS for the full 12-month period was $4.26 on a net income of $510.7 million. That’s up from $33.1 million, or 36 cents per share, in fiscal 2013.

Unsurprisingly, open-world crime game GTA V and subsidiary distribution label 2K Games led the way for Take-Two’s success.

“During fiscal 2014, Take-Two set new records for both our company and the entertainment industry,” Take-Two chief executive officer Strauss Zelnick said in a statement. “Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V reached $1 billion in sales faster than any entertainment release in history, NBA 2K14 enjoyed the franchise’s strongest launch, Borderlands 2 became 2K’s top-selling title, and our digitally delivered revenue grew to its highest level ever.”

Take-Two enjoyed both record revenue and earnings during its fiscal 2014.

Looking forward to fiscal 2015, the company is expecting revenue between $1.35 billion and $1.45 billion. It also expects an EPS somewhere in the range of 80 cents to $1.05.

The publisher expects to hit those targets through the continued sales of in-game content for Grand Theft Auto V as well as new releases like the multiplayer shooter Evolve.

“The evolution of Take-Two is reflected in our strong profit outlook for fiscal 2015 and expectation for continued Non-GAAP profitability every year for the foreseeable future,” said Zelnick.

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