Fueled by an analyst's speculation that it could be a prime target for a Yahoo Inc. acquisition, Zynga stock shot up 10 percent on Monday. Tuesday, the hype has come down, resulting in the stock diving more than 4 percent, trading at $3.77 per share.
The rumors began last week when Yahoo announced it was working on two acquisitions and six smaller deals, the Wall Street Journal reported. Also tossed around as a potential target for Yahoo was Yelp, the popular reviews website.
The Zynga rumors seemingly have come and gone, as the mobile game company didn't seem to match up well with Yahoo's direction. WSJ's Digits blog assessed the possibility and determined that it was a stretch to assume Yahoo would go after Zynga, because "to buy Zynga in its current form would be to essentially buy an aspiring mobile gaming company - whose games don't monetize as well as the old Facebook 'Ville games - and a company in transition that's still trying to figure out the rest of its business ... Unless Yahoo has a master plan when it comes to mobile games, there isn't a lot of utility here."
Transforming from a dependence on Web games into online gambling ventures overseas, Zynga's stock has increased 59 percent this year, while its competition, Glu Mobile, soared 18 percent today after news that it would roll out a a real-money slot game for mobile phones through a partnership with London-based gambling service Probability, CNN reports.
After shares fell by nearly 80 percent in 2012, Zynga rebounded in December when it announced filing an application for a gaming license in Nevada. The Nevada application came on the heels of a deal to offer the first real-cash gaming with international gaming operator bwin.party. Zynga plans to launch poker and casino games in the U.K. early this year.
