Patcher: Feb NPD's will cause "limited market reaction"

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Patcher said today that while the February NPD looks good on paper, he expects "limited market reaction" to the figures.

While most publishers met or exceeded expectations - THQ not being one of them - Patcher said the figures would not effect stock buying options in a note today.

"We expect limited market reaction to the sales data", he said. "While overall sales growth was quite respectable, Activision, Electronic Arts, THQ, Take-Two, and Ubisoft all delivered negative or flat sales compared to last year, with the month’s upside generated by solid performances from Nintendo, Sony and Capcom.

"Additionally, many publishers have adopted conservative views about the year, and we think that concerns about the economy are likely to limit share price appreciation.

"We think that this negativism could provide an opportunity, as solid hardware sales imply continued software sales strength well into 2009, and we continue to believe that the video game software sector remains highly recession-resistant".

While he did admit that the strong software performance is "sustainable well into 2009", he said software sales are likely to level out in August.