Categories: OLD Media Moves

Dow Jones Newswires breaks embargo, causes stock price drop

Dow Jones Newswires prematurely published headlines on Activision Blizzard Inc.’s quarterly earnings ahead of a Thursday afternoon embargo, including an incorrect revenue figure that the company blamed for a significant drop in its stock price.

Austen Hufford of The Wall Street Journal reports, “Activision shares fell as much as 6% after the headline error but later recovered some of the loss when the company posted record revenue and earnings that beat expectations. Shares closed Thursday down 2.3% at $66.82.

“‘We regret our error as well as inadvertently breaking the embargo,’ Dow Jones said in a statement. ‘We have issued a correction and are reviewing our processes.’

“Activision addressed the early release and wrong revenue figure on its regularly scheduled conference call with analysts, saying it was an ‘extraordinary error’ that resulted in volatility in its stock.

“Dow Jones Newswires, the Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch share the same parent company, News Corp.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.