The9 Rises on 'World of Warcraft' Record

NEW YORK - Shares of The9 Ltd. rose Thursday after the Chinese online gaming company and Blizzard Entertainment Inc. said Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" game reached a record 800,000 simultaneous users.

The9 (nasdaq: NCTY - news - people ) operates the popular game in China, and said the player peak occurred after the company's Sept. 6 launch of a game expansion pack called "The Burning Crusade."

American depositary shares of Shanghai-based The9 gained $1.46, or 4.9 percent, to $31.36 in afternoon trading. During the past year, the stock has moved between $20.86 and $52.43.

The expansion pack adds more features such as new lands to the game, and has drawn both current and new players, the company said.

In a note to clients Thursday, Citi Investment Research analyst Jason Brueschke said he thinks "World of Warcraft" has been doing well since the pack launch, and noted that the company added two servers last week to support more players.

He thinks that in the third quarter The9 will meet or come in ahead of his estimate for $34 million in "World of Warcraft" revenue.

"If the user traffic continues to be strong, which we expect, we believe our fourth-quarter 2007 'World of Warcraft' revenue estimate of $49.8 million is also achievable," he wrote.

The analyst, who holds a $55 target price and "Buy" rating for the shares, added that a recent decline in The9's share price presents a good time for investors to purchase the stock.