Why King looks better than Zynga in the casual game market

By reporting their earnings today, Zynga and King Digital Entertainment invited a comparison for how they are both doing in the social-mobile game business. And clearly, based on the third quarter results, King looks better as the leader of the casual game market.

Investors place a higher value on King than Zynga. At the close of the market today, King’s stock price was $13.19 a share, well be low its $22 a share IPO price earlier this year. That values King at $4.22 billion. Zynga’s stock price is $2.36 a share, compared to its $10 a share IPO price in 2011. Zynga is valued at $2.11 billion. And while Zynga isn’t buying back its stock now, King said today it would spend $150 million buying back its shares.