The company earned $99 million, or 8 cents per share, up from a loss of $233 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue slid 1 percent to $1.41 billion from $1.43 billion.
On an adjusted basis, Activision earned $725 million, or 63 cents per share, in the latest quarter. That's up from $655 million, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusted revenue fell 5 percent to $2.41 billion from $2.55 billion.
These figures exclude special items and account for the effects of deferring revenue and the related cost of sales for games with online components. Like other video game companies, Activision spreads these out over time, while the game is played, rather than all at once.
On this basis, analysts expected earnings of 56 cents per share on revenue of $2.20 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.
Besides "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," Activision said its kids' game "Skylanders Spyro's Adventure" also did well and is "on track to become an important and sustainable franchise."
For the current quarter, Activision forecasts adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $525 million, well short of Wall Street's expectations. Analysts are looking for earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $778.7 million.
For all of 2012, the company expects earnings of 94 cents per share on revenue of $4.5 billion. Analysts forecast 97 cents per share on revenue of $4.55 billion.
Activision's board also authorized a stock repurchase program for up to $1 billion of shares effective April 1 and raised the annual dividend by 9 percent to 18 cents. The dividend is payable on May 16 to shareholders of record as of March 21.
Shares of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision rose 11 cents to close at $12.66 on Thursday. Earnings were released after the closing bell. The stock rose 14 cents to $12.80 in after-hours trading.
