Top 3 NASDAQ Gaming Stocks of 2022

Gaming Investing

cartoon drawings of video game consoles and controllers

Which gaming stocks have performed the best so far this year? Here’s a look at the top NASDAQ gaming stocks year-to-date.

Click here to read the previous top NASDAQ gaming stocks article.

The gaming sector has demonstrated remarkable growth over the past few years, and its momentum has brought some NASDAQ-listed gaming stocks along for the ride.

The global gaming market was worth US$198.4 billion in 2021, according to Mordor Intelligence, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.94 percent from 2021 to 2027, reaching a value of US$339.95 billion.

Driving this trend are new converts who joined the gaming world during the pandemic, plus emerging technologies like cloud gaming, which allows users to stream games without the need for specific gaming hardware. Immersive technologies like virtual and augmented reality are also anticipated to push the market to new heights.

Below the Investing News Network has gathered the three top NASDAQ gaming stocks with the best year-to-date performance in 2022. Data was compiled using TradingView’s stock screener on April 13, 2022.

1. Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA)

Year-to-date gain: 40 percent; current share price: US$8.98

California-based social gaming company Zynga is best known for popular favorites like FarmVille, Words With Friends and Dawn of Titans. In Q4 2021, the company’s mobile gaming portfolio platform boasted 184 million monthly active users, representing a 38 percent increase over the same period in 2020.

Zynga is set to be acquired by major gaming company Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ:TTWO) for a reported US$12.7 billion in 2022. The company’s highest share price point so far this year came in the early spring, when it hit US$9.27 on April 4.

2. Playtika Holdings (NASDAQ:PLTK)

Year-to-date gain: 14.63 percent; current share price: US$19.82

Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, Playtika Holdings is a mobile gaming entertainment company that claims to be “among the first to offer free-to-play social games on social networks and, shortly after, on mobile platforms.” Today the company has a diverse portfolio of game titles accessed by 35 million monthly active users.

Playtika has built its mobile entertainment platform through strategic acquisitions. Furthering that strategy, in late March, the company announced the acquisition of JustPlay.LOL, the creator of the multiplayer game 1v1.LOL. The deal is consistent with Playtika's strategy of increasing its breadth of entertainment genres and leveraging its Boost platform to enhance game operations. Company shares peaked at US$21.28 on February 25.

3. Bragg Gaming Group (NASDAQ:BRAG)

Year-to-date gain: 12.72 percent; current share price: US$5.67

Bragg Gaming Group is a global gaming tech and content firm that owns a number of leading business-to-business and business-to-consumer online gaming companies with a focus on e-gaming, sportsbooks and online gambling.

In early February, Bragg reported expected full-year 2021 revenue of approximately US$66.1 million and adjusted EBITDA of approximately US$8 million. The company also increased its guidance for full-year 2022 revenue to a range of US$78 million to US$82 million from the prior range of US$67 million to US$70 million. Its share price hit a year high of US$7.75 on February 10.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.