Angry Birds game maker Rovio Entertainment warned on profits on Thursday, wiping more than a third off the Finnish firm's stock price amid deepening doubts about its valuation.
Investors in the company behind the Angry Birds games and movie franchise have had a rocky ride since last year's initial public offering of Rovio, which blamed increased marketing costs and other investments for the lower profit outlook.
Rovio forecast its 2018 operating margin at 9-11 percent versus 10.6 percent in 2017 and said it expected sales of EUR 260-300 million versus 297 million last year. This was below analysts' forecasts of a margin of 14.5 percent and sales of EUR 336 million, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Rovio saw rapid growth after the 2009 launch of the original Angry Birds game, in which players used slingshots to attack pigs who stole birds' eggs. But the company plunged to an operating loss and cut a third of its staff in 2015 due to tough competition and a shift to games available for free.
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