5.    Take Two Interactive

Market Share: 6% (UNCH)
2006 Position: 6 (+1)
Revenues: $1 billion (-14%)
Profits: ($185 million) (compare to previous year $35 million profit)
Expectations: early losses and late profits will lead to a break-even year
12 Month Range: $9-$25 <TTWO.O>
Employee Count: about 2,000
Age: 14 years
SKUs in Top 100: 9 (+2)
Franchises above 80%: 9 (UNCH)

One can only hope that the ridiculous melodrama that has plagued Take Two in years past is behind the company. This year certainly seems to have settled the company down, though only a little – instead of SEC investigations and burning offices, 2007 has only seen the stockholders oust top management over stock option scandals and more than a year of losses. Yes, Take Two had a bad year – it managed to hold on to market share only thanks to the strength of its GTA-fueled catalog, the port of PSP Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories to the PS2, and good sales of but a single new title – Rockstar’s charming Bully. The shareholders acknowledged that there was a problem and took the strongest possible action. Things should pick up from there.

But Take Two’s not out of the woods yet. The new management is still in the process of a vast company-wide restructuring, a plan that most recently manifested itself in the removal of several high-level European executives. In addition, Manhunt 2 has been suspended by the company, due to drawing an AO rating from the ESRB and bans in multiple countries.  Short term losses are expected, but by the holidays that should be completely offset by Grand Theft Auto IV, which will let the company…break even.

You would expect that a company releasing what may be the highest profile game of the year to do a little better than that (especially when that game is flanked by fascinating prospects like BioShock), but troubles like the ones Take Two has suffered in the past take some time to fix. The company still has its market share and its strong brands – now it just needs to get past its troubled adolescence.

Pictured:
Bully
Grand Theft Auto IV
Manhunt 2
BioShock