Activision Blizzard Inc. late Thursday reported fourth quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street forecasts.

The results were driven by strong holiday sales of popular video games such as “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” and “World of Warcraft.”

After the markets closed, the Santa Monica company reported net income of $354 million (31 cents a share), 258 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 8 percent to $2.6 billion.

Excluding one-time items, net income was 78 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average had expected the company to report adjusted net income of 72 cents a share on $2.44 billion in revenue.

In guidance for the current first quarter, Activision expects to report adjusted earnings of 10 cents a share on $1.16 billion in revenue.

“In the short-term, we expect to continue delivering strong profitability, but below our record-setting 2012 performance,” Chief Executive Bobby Kotick said in a statement.

Shares earlier closed up 12 cents, or 1 percent, to $12.06 on the Nasdaq and rose 5 percent in after-hours trading.