Polish firm DM BOŚ has issued a report on the current financial state of CD Projekt after the problematic launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Analysts lowered the company’s valuation by almost half and provided their sales forecast.
The new valuation of CD Projekt shares has been lowered from $117 to $58, according to a Bankier.pl report. The analysts also claim that the company will be able to sell 49 million copies of its games in 2020-2024 (down 31% from the previous forecast of 71.1 million units).
“Within a few months, CD Projekt, from the most beloved studio in the world, has become the most hated. Gaining the trust of players and investors will be a long process, but it is not impossible,” the recommendation says.
DM BOŚ went on to break down the main failures of Cyberpunk 2077. The list includes premature announcement of the release date, many problems at launch, communication issues in the team (as a result of remote work), and drastic differences between current PCs and the old generation of consoles.
Despite all the scandals and reputation damage, analysts believe that the company has a good chance to come back to the top. “CD Projekt has just added a second large franchise to its portfolio, and each of them has attracted a multi-million player community, which is a value that cannot be underestimated,” analyst Tomasz Rodak said.
According to DM BOŚ, CD Projekt reached about $300 million in net profit in 2020. The forecast for 2021 is much lower, as analysts estimate the possible net profit at only $158 million. However, Rodak expects the company to go back to the previous numbers and reach about $280 million in net profit in 2022.