Games Workshop leaps to 11-month high on Amazon film/TV deal

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- It's good to be a geek again. 

Or rather, to be an investor in geekery. Games Workshop (LON:GAW) stock rose nearly 14% at the open on Friday after the Warhammer owner said it has signed an agreement in principle with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) to develop film and television productions based on its figurine-based miniature wargame.

"In advance of contracts being entered into, Amazon will be commencing certain development activities (such as holding preliminary discussions with writers) in order to facilitate the project. It is intended that rights will initially be granted to develop the Warhammer 40,000 universe," Games Workshop said in a statement. "Whilst the parties have reached agreement on material commercial terms, the project is wholly dependent on and subject to contracts being agreed and entered into, which the parties are working towards."

As such, the company didn't change its financial forecasts for the current fiscal year, which ends in May 2023.

Games Workshop has been one of the less likely successes of the U.K. stock market in recent years, as its unashamedly old-school type of gaming has spread beyond its historical U.K. base. However, it hasn't been able to escape the general decline in consumer-facing U.K. stocks this year, falling as much as 58% before starting a recovery at the end of September. 

The news on Friday pushed the stock up to its highest in 11 months. It's still down some 30% from its peak in September last year.