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Zynga: Daily active mobile users grew five-fold in 2011 to 15M

February 15, 2012 — 10:46am ET | By Jason Ankeny

Social gaming giant Zynga posted a $435 million loss during the fourth quarter of 2011, its first period as a public company. The loss included a $510 million stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock units issued to employees--the loss was previously unrecognized until triggered by Zynga's December 2011 initial public offering. The IPO raised $1 billion, the largest offering by a U.S. technology firm since Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) raised $1.9 billion in 2004.

Zynga nevertheless reported quarterly revenues of $311.2 million, a 59 percent year-over-year jump and a 1 percent sequential increase--online revenues grew 51 percent over the fourth quarter of 2010 to $283.9 million, and advertising revenues soared to $27.3 million, up 230 percent compared to a year ago.

Zynga--best known for titles like FarmVille and Mafia Wars--introduced 12 new games in 2011, including eight optimized for the mobile platform. The firm notes that titles Dream Zoo, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker were among the top ten highest-grossing games on Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform during the fourth quarter, adding that mobile daily active users increased almost five-fold in 2011 to 15 million. As of the third quarter of 2011, Zynga reported 9.9 million daily active mobile users.

Last week, Zynga announced a partnership with toy manufacturer Hasbro--per terms of the agreement, Hasbro will license Zynga brands to develop and distribute products across a number of toy and game categories. The firms add that the deal also creates opportunities for co-branded merchandise featuring a combination of both brands. The first fruits of the partnership are expected to hit retail this fall.

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