Electronic Arts beat expectations during its March quarter, but shares of the videogame publisher were falling Tuesday evening.
The company reported adjusted earnings of $1.31 per share during its fiscal fourth quarter, topping consensus estimates at 97 cents a share. Adjusted revenue—known as net bookings—of $1.21 billion also beat consensus estimates of $1.18 billion.
The company said Apex Legends was the most downloaded free-to-play game in 2019 on the PlayStation 4 system, but did not provide more detailed playership data. Rival Activision Blizzard launched a competing title, Call of Duty Warzone, in March. It said Tuesday the game has already hit 60 million players.
EA said it has seen heightened levels of engagement and live services net bookings growth to date amid Covid-19 stay-at-home orders. But the full extent of Covid-19’s impact on EA’s business, operations, and financial results will depend on factors it says it can’t predict.
Still, unlike many firms lately, EA offered guidance for fiscal 2021. The company expects earnings per share of $3.35 and total net bookings of $5.55 billion—which includes changes to how it reports the metric.
The company noted continued disruptions, postponements, or cancellations of sports seasons and sporting events could impact results, given its popular sport simulation titles like FIFA and Madden NFL. After all, who would want to buy a new NFL videogame in August if there’s been no official games since last year’s title. Still, the NFL is expected to release its schedule on Thursday, according to Fox Business.
EA stock (ticker: EA) was down 4% to $114.70 in after-market trading Tuesday. Activision Blizzard (ATVI) stock went the opposite direction, up 5.5%, after its own March quarter earnings report.
Write to Connor Smith at [email protected]
