Zynga Q2 fails to impress, investors dump stock

Zynga's troubled share market story took yet another tragic turn after the social publisher turned in its second quarter financials today, returning a net loss of $22.8 million.

Zynga had predicated earnings of six cents per share but instead returned losses of three cents per share. The losses represent a significant year-on-year drop on what was a miserable Q2 2011, when the publisher made a profit of just $1.4 million.

Interestingly, Zynga's revenue was actually up by 19% year on year at $332 million.

CEO Mark Pincus told investors the quarter had allowed Zynga to establish its mobile footprint, which might be considered worth taking a profit hit over, and was quick to describe the poor results as related to "short term challenges".

Nevertheless, investors freaked out over the missed targets, and Zynga's stock dropped by $3.03, or 40%, in after hours trading. A few eager opportunists temporarily drove it up again, but it's not looking good.

Zynga went public in December 2011 for $1 billion, the largest tech IPO since Google’s 2004 debut, but hasn't been treated kindly since.