Advertisement
Australia markets closed
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • AUD/USD

    0.6519
    -0.0016 (-0.25%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    +1.76 (+2.16%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +42.10 (+1.90%)
     
  • Bitcoin AUD

    108,757.74
    +2,590.98 (+2.44%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • AUD/EUR

    0.6036
    +0.0005 (+0.09%)
     
  • AUD/NZD

    1.0910
    +0.0030 (+0.27%)
     
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     

Electronic Arts (EA) Q2 Earnings Decline Y/Y, Revenues Rise

Electronic Arts EA reported second-quarter fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings of 78 cents per share, which excluded tax benefits worth $2.11.

The company had reported earnings of 83 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings was pegged at 85 cents.

Notably, EA has recognized an income tax benefit of $1.705 billion in fiscal 2020 so far, out of which $625 million was recognized in the second quarter.

Revenues increased 4.8% year over year to $1.35 billion. Product revenues (42.1% of total revenues) decreased 8.8% to $568 million. Service and other revenues (57.9% of total revenues) increased 17.6% to $780 million.

Excluding deferred revenues of $35 million and mobile platform fees of $36 million, net bookings increased 4.5% to $1.277 billion.

Digital net bookings were $790 million, up 24% year over year. Additionally, digital net bookings were $3.883 billion over the last 12 months, increasing 8% year over year and representing 78% of total net bookings.

Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Electronic Arts Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Electronic Arts Inc. Quote

ADVERTISEMENT

Quarter Details

EA’s digital revenues (68.4% of total revenues) increased 18.2% year over year to $922 million. Packaged goods and other segment revenues (31.6% of total revenues) decreased 15.8% year over year to $426 million.

Further segregating digital revenues, full game download revenues increased 22% year over year to $180 million. Net bookings increased 11.5% year over year to $175 million.

Live services revenues increased 39% year over year to $573 million. Net bookings surged 50.3% year over year to $493 million, driven by Apex Legends, Ultimate Team in FIFA and Madden NFL, The Sims 4, and FIFA Online.

FIFA Online 4 performed well in Korea and saw growth in China during the quarter. Madden and FIFA benefited from early access sales on PlayStation through EA Access. Both were up in double-digit percentages year over year.

Mobile games revenues decreased 23% year over year to $169 million driven by aging titles. Net bookings declined 19.7% year over year to $122 million.

Based on its platforms, revenues from console increased 1% year over year to $923 million. Revenues from PC/browser were up 62% year over year to $242 million. Other revenues surged 100% year over year to $6 million.

However, revenues from mobile platform decreased 20% year over year to $177 million.

Important Game & Player Metrics

During the quarter, total players in FIFA increased nearly 15% year over year, and with the addition of the VOLTA Football street soccer experience, new-to-franchise players grew 7% year over year. The number of FIFA Ultimate Team unique players increased 22% year over year.

Moreover, unique players increased 12% year over year across the Madden franchise. Games played in franchise mode more than doubled to around 100 million in the second quarter. Also, the number of Madden Ultimate Team unique players increased 19% year over year.

Notably, the Sims 4 monthly average players increased more than 40% year over year in the second quarter. The Sims franchise surpassed $5 billion in lifetime sales.

Further, Apex Legends has 70 million players life to date. FIFA Mobile had been downloaded more than 250 million times life to date.

The company launched games such as FIFA 20, Madden NFL 20, NHL 20 and Sea of Solitude during the quarter.

Notable game launches in the next quarter include Need for Speed Heat, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Operating Details

EA’s GAAP gross profit increased 8.6% from the year-ago quarter to $943 million. Gross margin expanded 250 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis to 70%.

Operating expenses increased 10.7% from the year-ago quarter to $675 million. As a percentage of revenues, operating expenses expanded 260 bps to 50.1%.

As a percentage of revenues, marketing & sales (M&S) declined 10 bps. However, research & development (R&D) and general & administrative (G&A) expenses expanded 230 bps and 40 bps, respectively.  

Operating income increased 3.9% year over year to $268 million. Operating margin contracted 20 bps to 19.9% in the reported quarter.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of Sep 30, 2019, EA had $4.88 billion in cash and short-term investments compared with $5.19 billion as of Jun 30, 2019.

Net cash from operating activities in the reported quarter was $37 million compared with $158 million in the previous quarter.

EA repurchased 3.3 million shares for $306 million in the reported quarter. The company has $674 million available under its current program.

Guidance

For the third quarter of fiscal 2020, EA expects GAAP revenues of $1.510 billion. Net bookings are expected to be $1.940 billion.

EA anticipates operating expenses to be $733 million. GAAP earnings are expected to be 92 cents per share.

For fiscal 2020, EA expects GAAP revenues of $5.410 billion and net bookings of $5.125 billion. Digital net revenues are expected to be $4.230 billion. Packaged goods & other net revenues are anticipated to be $1.180 billion.

Management continues to expect The Sims 4 and Apex Legends to deliver net bookings of $300-$400 million each.

Moreover, EA anticipates operating expenses of $2.746 billion for the fiscal.

Additionally, earnings are expected to be $9.57 per share, including $5.74 of income tax benefits.

Operating cash flow is estimated to be around $1.625 billion.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

EA currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader consumer discretionary sector include Lionsgate LGF.A, Liberty Broadband Corporation LBRDK and Spectrum Brands Holdings SPB. All three stocks have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Lionsgate, Liberty Broadband and Spectrum Brands are set to report quarterly results on Nov 7, 11 and 13, respectively.
 
Today's Best Stocks from Zacks

Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? From 2017 through 2018, while the S&P 500 gained +15.8%, five of our screens returned +38.0%, +61.3%, +61.6%, +68.1%, and +98.3%.

This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. From 2000 – 2018, while the S&P averaged +4.8% per year, our top strategies averaged up to +56.2% per year.

See their latest picks free >>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Liberty Broadband Corporation (LBRDK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (SPB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research