JPMorgan recommends buying Take-Two, Kalshi reports

Kalshi said in a September 1 post on X that JPMorgan had recommended buying Take-Two Interactive, the video-game publisher behind Rockstar Games and the upcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI.” The post tied the call to investor attention around the game’s November 19, 2026 release date, which Take-Two and Rockstar have continued to repeat in public materials. JPMorgan’s research note was not publicly available in full, but a separate market report published in August said the bank had reiterated an “overweight” rating on Take-Two with a $310 price target. Take-Two shares have become a proxy for expectations around one of the industry’s biggest launches. ### What exactly did Kalshi say JPMorgan did? Kalshi wrote on September 1 that JPMorgan had recommended “buying” Take-Two, according to the company’s X thread cited in the social briefing. The prediction-market company linked that reported call to both retail and institutional interest ahead of “Grand Theft Auto VI.” MarketBeat, citing Benzinga, reported on August 11 that JPMorgan had reiterated an “overweight” rating on Take-Two Interactive and set a $310 price target. That report said the target implied about 22% upside from the stock’s then-current price. Other analysts named in the same report also carried positive ratings, including Raymond James, Roth Capital, Wells Fargo, BMO Capital Markets and Piper Sandler. ### Why is Take-Two so tied to one game? Rockstar Games said on June 24 that pre-orders for “Grand Theft Auto VI” would begin on June 25 at midnight local time. The same release said the game is scheduled to launch on November 19, 2026 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a base price of $79.99 and a higher-priced edition at $99.99. Take-Two has repeated that date in investor-facing materials. A company filing available through its investor-relations site states that “GTA VI” is launching November 19, 2026. That same filing also points to the scale of audience demand around the franchise, citing more than 93 million views in 24 hours for the first trailer and more than 475 million views in 24 hours for the second trailer’s cross-platform debut. ### How are markets pricing the release date itself? Kalshi-related coverage published by OddsShopper on August 26 said a contract tied to whether the game would arrive before December 1 was trading around 90 cents, which that market treats as roughly a 90% probability. The same article said Rockstar had referred to the game as “nearly there” and asked players to wait “a bit longer” for November 19. Those contracts are not equity research, but they show how heavily traders are focused on the launch calendar. Kalshi describes itself on its website as a regulated exchange and prediction market where users trade event contracts tied to real-world outcomes. ### What else has Take-Two said publicly about demand? Take-Two’s recent investor materials continued to frame fiscal 2027 around the “GTA VI” release. Third-party summaries of the company’s August earnings call said chief executive Strauss Zelnick described pre-orders as “unprecedented,” though that wording was not independently confirmed from a full transcript in the materials reviewed. A separate August market report said Take-Two opened at $253.57 on the day JPMorgan’s reiterated rating was reported. MarketBeat also said the broader analyst consensus on the stock remained “Buy,” with an average target price of $296.95. ### What should readers watch next? September 17 is the date of Take-Two’s shareholder meeting, according to a company notice filed on its investor-relations site. November 19, 2026 remains the next major operating milestone, with Rockstar and Take-Two still listing that as the release date for “Grand Theft Auto VI” on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.