Zynga's Q1 results tops forecasts

Zynga topped Wall Street forecasts Wednesday with its first-quarter financial results, the first under new CEO Frank Gibeau.

The San Francisco-based maker of FarmVille and other titles reported sales of $187 million, beating forecasts of $171.85 million, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Earnings were break-even, besting projections of a loss of a penny per share.

First-quarter bookings, the money spent on games by consumers, reached $182 million, up 8% from a year ago.

News of the financial results sent Zynga shares surging 11.5% to $2.57 in Thursday trading.

"There are so many things we could focus our attention on and do better that I think will lead us to better results over the long term," Gibeau, who replaced Zynga founder Mark Pincus as CEO in March, said in an interview. (Pincus remains Zynga's chairman.)

Although the company cut costs and recorded a rise in advertising revenue, it projected a $20 million to $26 million loss for its current quarter.

Previously, Pincus stepped down as CEO and brought in Xbox veteran Don Mattrick to jump-start Zynga's push into mobile gaming. Indeed, during the first quarter, 76% of Zynga's overall bookings were generated from mobile, a 31% jump compared to last year.

"We believe that Zynga has an opportunity to create new social experiences to connect even more players together," Gibeau said.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.