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Electronic Arts Inc. shares rose in the extended session Wednesday after the videogame publisher’s revenue and bookings came in above Wall Street expectations.
EA
EA,
shares rose 3.5% after hours, following a 0.5% decline to close at $139.50.
The company reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $294 million, or $1.02 a share, compared with $185 million, or 63 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose to $1.83 billion from $1.15 billion in the year-ago quarter. Bookings, which account for deferred revenue, rose 27% to $7.08 billion over the trailing past 12 months, the company said. Net bookings for the quarter were $1.85 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.17 a share on revenue of $1.79 billion and net bookings of $1.76 billion.
“This was the strongest second quarter in the history of Electronic Arts, with more players around the world joining and engaging in our leading franchises, new launches and live services,” said Andrew Wilson, EA’s chief executive, in a statement.
“Based on our confidence in our franchises and live services, we are again raising guidance this quarter,” said Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen in a statement. “We’re positioned for a strong holiday season driven by our exciting ‘Battlefield 2042’ game, with growth drivers in place for this year, next year and beyond.”
EA forecast earnings of about 2 cents a share on revenue of about $1.75 billion and bookings of $2.63 billion for the fiscal third quarter, and about $2.03 a share on revenue of about $6.93 billion and bookings of about $7.63 billion for the year.
Analysts estimate earnings of $3.24 a share on $1.99 billion in revenue and $2.73 billion in bookings for the third quarter, and earnings of $6.65 a share on revenue of $7.22 billion and bookings of $7.55 billion for the year.
Back in September, EA said that “Battlefield 2042” would be released worldwide on Nov. 19, delayed compared with its previously expected Oct. 22 release, but not as bad as “sometime in 2022,” as had been rumored.
Shares of rival Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI,
had their worst day in 13 years Wednesday after the publisher said it was delaying the release of two highly anticipated games by an unspecified amount of time.
Release delays have become much more common in the industry given last year’s embarrassingly buggy release of the long awaited “Cyberpunk 2077” from CD Projekt SA
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