Navigating Unity Software's Transformation
Unity Software Inc. (NYSE: NYSE:U ) is undergoing a transformative journey, marked by strategic restructuring, leadership changes, and a shift in its business model. The recent announcement of a 25% reduction in its workforce, or approximately 1,800 employees, underscores the company's commitment to streamline operations and refocus on its core business. In the midst of challenges and course corrections, Unity is navigating the complexities of the game development industry, where competition is fierce, and innovation is paramount.
The Unraveling of Unity's Business Model:
Unity, best known for its popular Unity game engine, faced a significant setback with a poorly communicated pricing change that led to widespread dissatisfaction among developers. The subsequent departure of long-time CEO John Riccitiello and the appointment of James Whitehurst as interim CEO signaled a pivotal moment for the company. Whitehurst, formerly the CEO at IBM's Red Hat, brought a fresh perspective, acknowledging that Unity was attempting to do too much.
The Layoffs and Urgency for Change:
Unity's decision to cut its workforce for the fourth time since mid-2022 is a bold move reflecting the urgency with which Whitehurst is acting. While details about the costs and charges involved are sparse, the company is signaling a commitment to swift and decisive action. The layoffs, while undoubtedly challenging, are a necessary step to achieve cost savings and align the organization with a more sustainable business model.
Challenges in the Game Development Landscape:
Unity operates in a competitive space alongside Epic Games' Unreal Engine, with developers always having the option to pursue alternative engines or develop their own tools. Unity's attempt to generate revenue through the Runtime Fee faced backlash, forcing the company to revise its strategy. The current per-seat subscription model limits Unity's financial upside when developers achieve success, necessitating a shift towards more performance-driven revenue models.
Financial Realities and Turnaround Efforts:
Despite reporting a net loss of $572 million on $1.58 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2023, Unity remains free-cash-flow positive, albeit relying heavily on stock-based compensation. The layoffs are expected to contribute to significant cost savings, providing a near-term boost to Unity's financial position. However, the company's long-term turnaround hinges on finding a permanent CEO capable of rebuilding relations with developers and steering the ship toward profitability.
Technical Outlook:
Unity Software's stock is currently within a horizontal trend channel, indicating a potential development in the same direction.
Conclusion:
Unity Software Inc. is at a crossroads, navigating challenges in the dynamic game development industry. The recent layoffs and strategic restructuring reflect a commitment to long-term, profitable growth. As Unity seeks to redefine its business model and recover from past missteps, investors and industry observers alike will be watching closely to see how the company adapts to the evolving landscape and positions itself for success in the future.
U trade ideas
$U - Oh the magic of analyst downgradeBozz update: NYSE:U
The stock experienced a significant pullback following Piper Sandler's analyst downgrade from Neutral to Underweight, with an increase in the price target from $20 to $35. A staggering 75% surge from the Neutral rating – because logic, right?
Does the analyst realize how absurd that rating sounds? What magical transformation happened to make the stock 75% more valuable under the illustrious Underweight category than when it was just Neutral?
But I digress. Returning to the chart, the stock hit the upper trendline of the sideways channel and produced a doji before the inevitable rejection. The MACD is teasing a potential bearish crossing, albeit in the early stages.
Should the bulls muster the strength to reclaim levels above $41.50 promptly, there's a decent chance of a breakout from the channel. However, if not, brace yourselves for the risk of a further descent.
Support levels to watch:
$36.50
$35.50
$33.50
Unity Software Surprising 25% Stock Rally
Unity Software Inc (NYSE: NYSE:U ) has experienced a notable fluctuation in its stock price over recent periods. With a current market capitalization of $15.31 billion, the company's stock is trading at $42.14. Over the past week, Unity's shares have seen a marginal decline of 0.25%. However, looking at a broader timeframe, the stock has gained an impressive 25.03% over the past three months. This growth is particularly striking when considering the company's past and current GF Value.
Unity's Competitive Landscape
In comparison to its competitors, Unity stands out with a higher market cap than BILL Holdings Inc (BILL, Financial) at $8.94 billion, Ceridian HCM Holding Inc (CDAY, Financial) at $10.48 billion, and Paylocity Holding Corp (PCTY, Financial) at $9.3 billion. This suggests that Unity holds a stronger position in the market, potentially offering a more stable investment opportunity.
Technical Analysis
Unity Software has broken the falling trend channel in the medium long term and reacted strongly up. For the time being, it is difficult to say anything about the future trend direction. The stock is moving within a rectangle formation. An established break predicts a further rise.
Volume tops and volume bottoms correspond well with tops and bottoms in the price. Volume balance is also positive, which strengthens the stock RSI above 70 shows that the stock has strong positive momentum in the short term. Investors have steadily paid more to buy the stock, which indicates increasing optimism and that the price will continue to rise.
The RSI curve shows a rising trend, which could be an early signal of the start of a rising trend for the price as well.
$U Breaking Above 50 DMANYSE:U has been a bit of a troubled stock. However, they did beat on earnings, and they have announced 265 job cuts and office closures to boost profit.
I am taking a chance here on a "turnaround play." I opened a ¼ size position just a bit ago. I’ll place my stop just under the low of the day (that’s about a 9% stop, bigger than I like but it has moved that much today, hence the smaller position size).
I like the volume on earnings day along with follow-up volume the next day. It is on track today to be about 150% of the last 10 days average volume so buyers are showing up. Although it is now above its 50 DMA it has yet to cross the 40-week MA (white) and just above that in light green is the 18-month AVWAP. Those could be strong areas of resistance, TBD.
Ideas, not investing / trading advice. Comments always welcome. Thanks for looking.
Unity Software- ready for the pump?Unity Software- ready for the pump?
As you cand se,, the price it is in an accumulation range, a broken trend line with a broken resistance confirmation will add more investors/buyers and after that wee can see some beautiful pumps..for now lets see what the price will do.
U Unity Software Options Ahead of EarningsAnalyzing the options chain and the chart patterns of U Unity Software prior to the earnings report this week,
I would consider purchasing the 27usd strike price Calls with
an expiration date of 2024-5-17,
for a premium of approximately $4.65.
If these options prove to be profitable prior to the earnings release, I would sell at least half of them.
Looking forward to read your opinion about it.
Unity Software (NYSE: U) Resurrection Unity Software Inc. is an American video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment and changed its name in 2007. Unity Technologies is best known for the development of Unity, a licensed game engine used to create video games and other applications.
Unity Software's earnings report Does Not Look Good
Shares of 3D virtual reality company Unity Software (U 7.01%) plunged 12% at the open on Friday after reporting an earnings miss Thursday evening.
Heading into Q3, analysts had forecast Unity would earn $0.17 per share on $553.7 million in sales. Instead, Unity reported a $0.32 per share loss, and its sales fell short of expectations at just $544.2 million.
That sounds like bad news, and explains the steep early sell-off at Unity. On the plus side, the stock already seems to be recovering.
Unity Software sales and earnings
And yet the news wasn't all bad. As Unity Software pointed out, its revenues may have missed estimates, and "we believe we can do better." Nevertheless, Unity did still grow its sales 69% year over year, which...isn't too shabby.
Similarly, while management failed to deliver Wall Street's expected profit, it did cut its losses in half from the year-ago quarter. Net losses fell from $250 million to $125 million per generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). And the negativity of the company's net profit margin improved significantly, from negative 77% a year ago to negative 23% this time around.
Should you buy Unity Software stock?
This means that Unity effectively flipped from burning cash to generating cash profit in Q3. And while management did not provide guidance through the end of this year, year to date, the company has generated $118 million in positive free cash flow, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. If this trend continues, the company might generate as much as $157 million in free cash flow this year -- and deliver its first full year of positive free cash flow ever.
Admittedly, at a current-year valuation of more than 61 times free cash flow, the stock isn't obviously cheap. Still, analysts polled by S&P think Unity Software will double its free-cash-flow number next year, then nearly double it again in 2025 -- putting the company at about $590 million in cash generation that year.
$U - Strong reversal!NYSE:U Look at Friday's candle!
Bears thinking they will get paid got destroyed! Bulls thinking it's over and gave up got destroyed! 😂
What's next?
It is up against a resistance, the $27 resistance area. If the price can break out of that descending wedge, it can head to $36. However, $30 to $37 would be a tough point of control resistance area.
Potential upside targets:
$32
$37
Downside risk:
$24 to $22
I have calls.
UNITY SOFTWARE - GREAT OPPORTUNITYI like U, and from what i see on the chart, i have an downtrend line broken , and nou the price its in the discount zone but also in a bottom zone, if you want to be a buyer, this is the perfect entry.
I just bought some share at 27.8usd and i will buy every dip betwen 24-28.
Also in 9 November we have earnings from U , so there is another possibility for a rally form here.
Gamers against Unity (Means opportunity)The chart pattern before the move to the upside on June reminds me of PLTR, but in this case it quickly retraced back to the origin.
Fundamentals are that gamers are mad at Unity for being aggressive with their licensing fees, hurting indie game developer's earnings. Bad PR is sticky in the gaming industry so the perception of the company to the general public will remain negative for a while, whether you like that for longs or not is up to you.
$U - Can it bounce?NYSE:U On Oct 4 post, I mentioned that it has a risk of falling to $26.
It is currently trading at a critical support level. If there is a reversal in the cards this is where it needs to bounce.
The stock falls to all time low of $21.22 back in November 9, 2022 on the day of ER that marked the bottom.
Well guess what? We are in November 2023 and ER is scheduled on November 9 and stock is trading around $25!
Will it be the same this time?
I think we should see a potential bounce soon.
Upside targets:
$27
$31
$34
$36.50
Downside risk:
$24 to $21
Unity : Bottom Fishing before Nov Earnings
Simple technical chart analysis and trading plan :
- accumulate at support zone $25-28 which also fall into oversold lower Midas zone . Cut loss when fall outside this support zone.
- target exit points will be at $40, $42 or upper overbought Midas zone.
*** Create simple and stress free trading plan. ***
Unity - bottom formation is a processUnity CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from gaming software company after controversial pricing change. In September, Unity announced a controversial pricing change that upset developers who rely on the company’s technology to create video games.
James Whitehurst, former CEO of Red Hat, will become Unity’s interim CEO.
$U - Unity is interesting againNYSE:U Unity is interesting again. It is trading inside a descending wedge pattern and currently trading at the bottom trendline.
It can see a bounce from that trendline and head towards $35 area.
There is a risk that it could fall to $26. Going long at $26 would be safer but there is a chance that it might not get there.
Targets:
$33
$35
$44
Risk:
$26