After cutting profit expectations with the less-than-stellar reaction to recent games things haven't got any better for Acclaim. Their shares have dropped 42%! .

Read the official Reuters report for more information...
"Reuters) Shares in video game publisher Acclaim Entertainment Inc. lost nearly half their value on Friday after the company reported a loss more than twice what it had forecast only a month ago.

Acclaim shares ended down 42 percent at 73 cents on Nasdaq, after earlier falling as low as 60 cents a share, their lowest level since January 2001. Volume was 18.7 million shares, more than seven times the stock's 90-day average.

The shares, which had appreciated 13-fold in 2001, are down nearly 87 percent this year, as the company has struggled with weak sales and expectations that were set too high and had to be lowered.

Late on Thursday, Acclaim reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of 31 cents per share, compared its estimate in mid-September for a loss of 11 cents to 13 cents.

The company said it now expects fiscal 2003 revenue to be flat compared with 2002's $268.7 million, with break-even earnings per share. Analysts surveyed by First Call had expected earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $321.2 million.

The company also said it was evaluating the guidance for the first half of fiscal 2003 it gave in September in light of limited distribution for its controversial new game "BMX XXX" and delays in the international release of two titles.

"In our view, (Acclaim) is suffering from a lack of compelling content," Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Edward Williams said in a research note. "Acclaim's recent games ... have not performed well at retail and we do not expect its current line-up to fair much better."

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter cut his rating on the stock to "hold" from "buy" on Friday, saying the cut reflected a delay in profitability for the company."

As regular readers of the site will know, I have little liking for Acclaim. This news comes as little surprise and I'd be lying if I said I was saddened by it.