Should You Consider Investing in Zynga (ZNGA)?

Artisan Partners, a high value-added investment management firm, published its ‘Artisan Global Discovery Fund’ third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 2.85% was recorded by both its Investor Class: APFDX and Advisor Class: APDDX, and 2.93% by its Institutional Class: APHDX for the third quarter of 2021, all beating the MSCI All Country World Index that delivered a -1.05% return for the same period. You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.

Artisan Global Discovery Fund, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and discussed its stance on the firm. Zynga Inc. is a San Francisco, California-based social game developer with a $6.8 billion market capitalization. ZNGA delivered a -38.10% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -30.41%. The stock closed at $6.11 per share on December 03, 2021.

Here is what Artisan Global Discovery Fund has to say about Zynga Inc.  in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“Zynga’s recent quarterly results were disappointing as existing user engagement slowed alongside easing pandemic restrictions, and acquisition of new users via targeted advertising has become more difficult in the immediate aftermath of Apple’s new privacy restrictions. For background, iOS 14.5, which was released in April, requires apps to ask users for permission to collect and share data. Opting out prevents developers from attaching an identifier for advertisers (IDFA), which is used to target and measure the effectiveness of advertising on users across mobile devices. We believe the company can overcome this headwind as interest in mobile gaming remains robust and its arsenal of “Bold Beats”—new content, features and gameplay modes—attracts new audiences, further engages current players and brings back lapsed players. Zynga also has several initiatives we believe will deliver growth longer term: developing and rolling out new games (Star Wars: Hunters, FarmVille 3), investing in further advertising technology/data capabilities and expanding its global reach. It may take several quarters to rebuild growth momentum after Q3’s setback, but we are remaining patient.”

Based on our calculations, Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was not able to clinch a spot in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. ZNGA was in 52 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 49 funds in the previous quarter. Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) delivered a -30.57% return in the past 3 months.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.