REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Electronic Arts Inc . (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:EA) reported a dip in its fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) and bookings, falling below Wall Street analysts' expectations.
The company's Q4 EPS came in at $1.37, missing the analyst estimate of $1.52 by $0.15. Bookings for the quarter were reported at $1.67 billion, also lower than the anticipated consensus of $1.77 billion.
The video game giant provided its guidance for fiscal year 2025, projecting revenue to be between $7.1 billion and $7.5 billion, which is below the consensus estimate of $7.76 billion from analysts. For the first quarter of 2025, EA anticipates an EPS range of $0.73 to $0.90, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.79, and revenue expectations ranging from $1.575 billion to $1.675 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.44 billion.
EA's stock responded negatively to the news with a 4% decline, indicating investor concerns over the earnings miss and lower-than-expected bookings.
Despite these setbacks, EA emphasized its strong financial position in FY24 highlighted by record cash flow and robust earnings growth driven by flagship franchises like EA SPORTS FC™ and Madden NFL™. The company’s CEO Andrew Wilson expressed confidence in building upon this momentum with an exciting pipeline that includes College Football in FY25.
Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA, pointed out that their strategy has led to record net bookings for their Madden NFL franchise and double-digit growth in weekly average users for both Madden NFL 24 and Madden Mobile.
The company's board has authorized a new stock repurchase program valued at $5 billion over three years and declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share payable on June 19, 2024.
Looking ahead to FY25, EA remains optimistic about its operational outlook with net bookings expected to be between approximately $7.3 billion and $7.7 billion.
Electronic Arts is known for its portfolio of critically acclaimed brands such as EA SPORTS FC™, Battlefield™, Apex Legends™, The Sims™, Need for Speed™ among others – all contributing to its GAAP net revenue of approximately $7.6 billion in fiscal year 2024.
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