Earnings call transcript: Electronic Arts Q1 2026 beats EPS estimates

Electronic Arts (EA), the gaming giant with a market capitalization of $37.22 billion, reported its earnings for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, surpassing analyst expectations with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.79, compared to the forecasted $0.63. The company also exceeded revenue forecasts, posting $1.3 billion against the anticipated $1.24 billion. Despite the positive earnings report, EA’s stock saw a decline of 2.81% in regular trading hours, closing at $151.99, though it edged slightly higher in the aftermarket. According to InvestingPro analysis, EA’s current valuation appears to be fairly priced relative to its Fair Value.

[Get access to 10 more exclusive InvestingPro Tips for EA, including insights on share buybacks and balance sheet strength.]

Key Takeaways

• EPS of $0.79 surpassed forecasts by 25.4%.
• Revenue reached $1.3 billion, exceeding expectations by 4.84%.
• Stock declined by 2.81% despite earnings beat, closing at $151.99.
• Strong performance noted in full game net bookings, up 27% YoY.
• Upcoming launches include major titles such as Madden NFL 26 and Battlefield 6.

Company Performance

Electronic Arts demonstrated solid performance in Q1 FY2026, with net bookings reaching $1.3 billion, marking a 3% year-over-year increase. The company reported net revenue of $1.67 billion, a modest 1% rise from the previous year. With a robust financial health score of 2.71 (rated as GOOD by InvestingPro) and holding more cash than debt on its balance sheet, EA continues to leverage its strong position in the sports gaming sector, with notable growth in full game net bookings driven by popular franchises like Madden and FIFA, now rebranded as EA SPORTS FC.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $1.3 billion, up 4.84% from forecast
• Earnings per share: $0.79, beating estimates by 25.4%
• Gross margin: 83.3%, down 90 basis points YoY
• Net bookings: $1.3 billion, up 3% YoY
• Full game net bookings: $214 million, up 27% YoY

Earnings vs. Forecast

EA’s earnings per share of $0.79 significantly outperformed the forecast of $0.63, representing a surprise of 25.4%. This strong performance was complemented by revenue figures that also exceeded expectations, coming in at $1.3 billion against a projected $1.24 billion, a positive surprise of 4.84%.

Market Reaction

Despite the earnings beat, EA’s stock fell by 2.81% during regular trading hours. The stock experienced a slight uptick in aftermarket trading, rising 0.09% to $152.12. While the decline could be attributed to broader market trends or investor caution, analyst price targets range from $127 to $210, suggesting potential upside. The stock has shown strong momentum with a 26.55% return over the past six months, and InvestingPro data indicates the stock generally trades with low price volatility, making it an interesting consideration for stability-focused investors.

[Discover comprehensive valuation analysis and 1,400+ detailed Pro Research Reports available on InvestingPro.]

Outlook & Guidance

EA maintains its full-year guidance, with Q2 net bookings expected to be between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion. With analysts forecasting 5% revenue growth for FY2026 and an EPS of $8.39, the company anticipates strong launches in the second half of the fiscal year, including key titles like Battlefield 6 and EA SPORTS FC 26. EA is also focusing on expanding its global reach and investing in community-driven platforms, supported by its strong cash flow generation, with a free cash flow yield of 5%.

Executive Commentary

CEO Andrew Wilson emphasized EA’s strategic focus on building Battlefield as a platform, highlighting the company’s commitment to innovation. "We never rest on our laurels," Wilson stated, underscoring EA’s drive to stay competitive in the gaming industry. He also noted, "Competition makes us better," reflecting EA’s proactive approach to market challenges.

Risks and Challenges

• Potential market saturation in the sports gaming sector.
• Economic uncertainties impacting consumer spending on gaming.
• Increased competition from emerging gaming platforms and technologies.
• Challenges in expanding mobile gaming presence globally.
• Pressure to maintain high engagement levels across live services.

Q&A

Analysts inquired about EA’s pricing strategies for upcoming games and the marketing approach for Battlefield 6. The company also addressed questions regarding opportunities in college sports and the economics of mobile platforms, highlighting EA’s focus on strategic growth and innovation.

Full transcript - Electronic Arts Inc (EA) Q1 2026:

Sarah, Conference Operator: Good afternoon. My name is Sarah, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Electronic Arts First Quarter Fiscal Year twenty twenty six Conference Call. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Andrew Erckbitts, Vice President, Investor Relations.

Please go ahead.

Andrew Erckbitts, Vice President, Investor Relations, Electronic Arts: Thank you. Welcome to EA’s first quarter fiscal year twenty twenty six earnings call. With me today are Andrew Wilson, our CEO and Stuart Canfield, our CFO. Please note that our SEC filings and our earnings release are available at ir.ea.com. In addition, we have posted detailed earnings slides to accompany our prepared remarks.

Lastly, after the call, we will post our prepared remarks, an audio replay of this call and a transcript. With regards to our calendar, our second quarter fiscal year twenty twenty six earnings call is scheduled for 10/28/2025. As a reminder, we post a schedule of upcoming earnings calls for the fiscal year on our IR website. This presentation and our comments include forward looking statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of the company. Actual events and results may differ materially from our expectations.

We refer you to our most recent Form 10 ks for a discussion of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. Electronic Arts makes these statements as of today, 07/29/2025, and disclaims any duty to update them. During this call, the financial metrics, with the exception of free cash flow and non GAAP operating margin, will be presented on a GAAP basis. All comparisons made in the course of this call are against the same period in the prior year unless otherwise stated. Now I’ll turn the call over to Andrew Wilson.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I want to start by acknowledging the incredible creativity, dedication and drive of our global teams. Thanks to their outstanding work, we delivered a strong first quarter to start FY 2026, landing above the high end of our guidance. This quarter’s performance highlights EA’s unique position in the industry. The immense creativity of our teams, unmatched production capabilities, world class IP and the breadth of our global player network.

These differentiators power execution strength across geographies, platforms, genres and business models as we continue to demonstrate the durability and momentum of our business. When we look at our portfolio of massive client communities from global football to American football to The Sims, we are seeing our core communities of players more deeply engaged and staying with us for longer. This is the result of deliberate sustained focus. Years of commitment to our biggest opportunities are now compounding as we scale our communities and expand our reach. Looking ahead, are entering the most exciting release cycle in EA’s history, scaling our massive online communities and pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment.

This year brings the highly anticipated launch of Battlefield six and continued innovation across EA Sports with FC, Madden NFL and NHL. We will continue to expand The Sims’ iconic franchise and launch SKATE as the foundation of a new creator driven platform rooted in street culture. Today, EA is delivering incredible games and experiences that set us apart. And looking ahead, I couldn’t be more excited as our teams continue to shape the future of interactive entertainment. Now let me walk you through our first quarter.

Our EA Sports business continues to be a pillar of strength fueled by innovation, authenticity, and deep fan connection. In global football, player engagement remains strong with net bookings up year over year with FC online up double digits and FC mobile having a record quarter. Community events like team of the season, Immortals and shape shifters created high impact engagement across HD and mobile. FC mobile led engagement with over 50,000,000 installs and DAU growth year over year, underscoring our ability to scale live content effectively and grow globally across platforms. A highlight this quarter was the integration of select matches from Apple’s MLS season pass into FC mobile, bridging real world football with interactive entertainment.

This success across global football is an ongoing result of our focus of listening and responding to our players. As we turn to FC26, we are leaning into this community centric approach as a key driver of the titles prelaunch campaign. This approach has well received by our core player base and early indicators are very positive leading up to a worldwide launch on September 26. Our FC strategy is the blueprint for building and growing massive online communities across our EA SPORTS franchises and beyond. By seamlessly integrating content across console, PC, and mobile, we’re not only engaging core players, but also scaling to new geographies and fan bases.

It’s grounded in expanding how fans play, create, watch, and connect, bringing them closer to the sports they love through deeply immersive, socially driven experiences. Building on our collaboration with Apple through f one the movie, we merged cinematic content with our interactive f one experience. This partnership amplified excitement and extended the reach of EA SPORTS f one twenty five coupled with innovative gameplay advancements from refined physics and handling to an enhanced career mode, the title delivered a 27% year over year increase in net bookings. Our partnerships in both FC and F1 offered fans new ways to connect with these global sports, strengthening cultural relevance, deepening emotional connection, and showcasing how the fusion of real world sports action, blockbuster storytelling, and immersive gameplay drives growth and engagement. In Q1, our American football ecosystem continued to demonstrate strength with sustained engagement and year round momentum across Madden NFL and college football.

Building on that foundation, the high quality launch of college football twenty six marked an exciting next step, earning strong reviews and enthusiastic reception from the community while delivering authenticity, immersion, and innovative gameplay to a passionate community of players. Following an extraordinary 2025 title reintroduction fueled by a decade of pent up demand, we expect college football to settle into a more normal demand curve while establishing its place as a core franchise in our portfolio and across the industry. While it’s early, College Football ’26 delivering strong competitive cohort retention. As a result, we are seeing deeper engagement in Ultimate Team versus prior year life to date. This momentum sets the stage for the next Madden NFL launching worldwide August 14.

Powered by a new AI driven system trained on NFL game data, Madden NFL ’20 six delivers adaptive QB and coaching strategies, enhanced gameplay through an expanded physics engine and deeper more authentic experiences across fan favorite modes and stadium atmospheres. As the real world season start, we will continue to build a connected year round experience that celebrates the full spectrum of American football fandom. Our long term partnerships across our college, NFL, FC, F1, UFC and NHL franchises are some of the most valuable in sports entertainment, and we’re continuing to unlock their ever growing potential. These iconic sports look to EA Sports to more deeply and directly connect fans with their favorite teams and athletes through new ways to play, create, watch, and connect across our experiences. Whether it’s bringing real world content into our games, amplifying highlights through creator tools, or building new social touch points around the biggest moments in sport, these partnerships are a powerful engine for a deeper engagement and cultural connection.

EA Sports’ growth doesn’t just reflect the world of sports, it’s helping to shape it. Through mobile expansion, creative tools and deepening fandom, we are building massive online communities across what we believe will become the most valuable sports business in the world. Beyond sports, our broad entertainment portfolio remains a key growth driver for EA driven by blockbuster IP, creative excellence and vibrant communities. Apex Legends performed well across the quarter. Q1 saw sequential growth in engagement driven by strong player retention.

The current season, Prodigy, also marked a notable rise in player satisfaction driven in part by the positive reception of new legend Sparrow, whose popularity spans all skill levels across the community. We expect momentum to continue as the team operates with agility and focus on what matters most to the community, evolving gameplay, listening to players, and strengthening the core experience that defines Apex as a best in class live service. Our next season Apex Legends Showdown is launching next week with an all new way to play. Looking ahead, we remain firmly on track to launch Skate and Battlefield six this year. We’ve reached over a million registered players for the Skate playtest as we prepare for launch.

Following the incredible player response to Battlefield six revealed trailer last week, we are just days away from ushering in a new era for the franchise. This Thursday, fans can tune in live for a massive multiplayer showcase, our most ambitious reveal yet, featuring epic maps and modes and a behind the scenes look with developers. Immediately following, top content creators around the world will stream the first ever Battlefield six gameplay from live events in Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and London with a special event in Hong Kong the following weekend. Battlefield six has been built to supercharge a passionate community and ignite a new generation of fans. From day one, we’ve been deeply focused on delivering the experience players have been asking for, iconic all out warfare, innovative destruction, unmatched scale, and more.

With a global launch ahead, Battlefield six is poised to become a cornerstone of our vision for dynamic, continually expanding experiences where community engagement shapes the future of play. Our company vision and strategy is in full flight, focused, dynamic and built for scale. We’re delivering across our first strategic pillar of building massive online communities, global football and American football, blockbuster shooters and creator powered ecosystems. These aren’t just growth areas. They are massive online communities at scale, powering our business today and accelerating our ambition to build in, around, and beyond our games.

This is EA, connected, creator led, and defining the future of interactive entertainment. With that, I’ll turn it over to Stuart for a closer look at our financial performance.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: Thanks, Andrew, and good afternoon, everyone. We delivered a great start to FY twenty twenty six with Q1 results ahead of our expectations. Our outperformance reflects continued execution across our portfolio, piloted by our Global Football, Star Wars and Apex Legends franchises. With strong momentum and a compelling slate of upcoming launches, we’re well positioned to deliver against our FY twenty twenty six outlook and long term margin framework. In Q1, we delivered net bookings of $1,300,000,000 up 3% exceeding the high end of our guidance range.

We saw strong contributions from Split Fiction and Global Football and better than expected performance from Catalog and Apex Legends. Full game net bookings were $214,000,000 up 27 led by ongoing momentum from split fiction and a resurgence in Star Wars Battlefront II. Live services net bookings were $1,080,000,000 down 1%. Excluding Apex Legends whose impact was two points better than we had originally expected, live services grew in the low single digits, underscoring the resilience and ongoing growth of our core franchises led by Global Football. Now, turning to key franchise performances in the quarter.

Global Football grew net bookings mid single digits year over year with Q4 momentum carrying into the quarter. Results exceed our expectations piloted by healthy engagement through live events and new player mechanics. Our teams continue to evolve the experiences in our largest franchise through new features, community focused content and offerings like Premium Pass as we deliver long term value for our players. FC Mobile outperformed expectations again this quarter with localized campaigns and growing web store adoption fueling momentum through our Team of the Season event. As Andrew noted, FC Mobile continues to expand our reach across new geographies while driving feature innovation and deeper engagement.

For example, in Q1, we began work to unify Southeast Asia under a single SKU, streamlining operations while advancing our strategy to deliver hyper localized content at scale. As we look across global football, with growth across HD, FC Mobile and FC Online, we are confident in our ability to drive durable growth in our largest franchise. Apex Legends delivered encouraging momentum in Q1. Net bookings were flat sequentially driven by strong operational execution, content innovation and the successful introduction of Legend Locker. Engagement trends improved significantly fueled by strong retention particularly among new and casual players establishing a solid foundation for Q2 and the upcoming season ’26.

Moving to our GAAP results, we delivered net revenue of $1,670,000,000 up 1%. Cost of revenue was $279,000,000 resulting in a gross margin of 83.3%, down 90 basis points due to strong performance from royalty bearing titles such as Split Fiction. Operating expenses were $1,120,000,000 up 9%, primarily driven by increased people costs as we make focused strategic investments to fuel our growth priorities and near term launches. As a result, per share was $0.79 For Q1, operating cash flow was $17,000,000 On a trailing twelve month basis, it was $1,980,000,000 and free cash flow was $1,750,000,000 We returned $423,000,000 to shareholders during the quarter through buybacks and dividends. Please see our earnings slides for further cash flow information.

Now, let me walk through our outlook. We’re building on a solid foundation from Q1, carrying positive momentum into Q2. We are well positioned for an exciting back half of FY 2026, which is underpinned by upcoming launches within EA SPORTS and growing anticipation around Battlefield six. For Q2, we expect net bookings to be $1,800,000,000 to $1,900,000,000 down 13% to down 9%. This includes a four point headwind related to phasing of the EA Sports FC Deluxe Edition content, which will largely be recognized in Q3.

Our deliberate change in approach is part of our community centric strategy to deliver more value for players over a longer period of time. Additionally, our guidance assumes the following. First, last year’s launch of EA SPORTS College Football ’25 delivered an exceptionally strong quarter that reflected pent up demand for the fan favorite franchise. This drove an atypical phasing of net bookings with around 50% of units sold occurring in the first week. This year, we’re approaching the title with a more normalized demand curve similar to our broader sports titles historical patterns leading to a tougher comp for frontline sales.

While it’s still early, we’re encouraged by strong retention, positive player sentiment and healthy live service performance. As a result, we expect college football full game sales to be a headwind in the quarter, partially offset by the growth of Madden NFL ’26. Putting it all together, we expect the American football ecosystem to be an eight point headwind year over year for the quarter with the ecosystem returning to growth in the second half of the fiscal year. Second, with FC26, we’ve applied key learnings from last year and sharpened our focus on driving deeper engagement and value for our core community. Early sentiment has been encouraging, reflecting strong alignment with our community.

With the title launching the last week in the quarter, we remain appropriately measured in our near term assumptions. Third, in the remainder of our portfolio, we expect the momentum we saw in Q1 to continue, including for Apex Legends and Catalog. And finally, if rates remain unchanged, we expect a one point tailwind from FX. Turning to GAAP, we expect net revenue of $1,750,000,000 to $1,850,000,000 cost of revenue to be $430,000,000 to $450,000,000 and operating expenses of approximately $1,215,000,000 to $1,235,000,000 up 3% to up 4%. Year over year increases in operating expenses are primarily driven by marketing related upcoming launches, notably Battlefield six.

We expect earnings per share of $0.29 to $0.46 To close, we’re encouraged by the strong start to the fiscal year with Q1 results demonstrating focused execution and the strength of our diverse resilient IP portfolio. Looking ahead, we’re building on this momentum with a robust slate of upcoming releases, Madden NFL 26, FC26, NHL 26, SKATE and Battlefield six that positions us well to deepen player engagement, expand our audience and deliver our fiscal year guidance, which remains unchanged. We continue to take a disciplined approach to capital allocation, prioritizing investment behind our largest franchises. At the same time, we’re making progress against our long term financial framework, expanding scale, improving operating leverage and laying the foundation for durable multi year growth. Now, I’ll hand the call back to Andrew.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Thank you, Stuart. I want to reiterate how energized I am by the progress we’re making and the opportunities that lie ahead. Our momentum is the result of years of intentional investment and focused execution across our massive online communities in Global Football, American Football, Battlefield and The Sims. As we look forward, we are just beginning to unlock the full potential of our strategy. We’re expanding our approach to blockbuster storytelling, building bigger world and deeper character driven experiences that connect players to our IP and powerful new ways.

And we’re innovating around community beyond the bounds of play by launching new tools and platforms that amplify user generated experiences, social connection, and participation in the broader fandom of our games. We’re shaping what comes next, where play, create, watch, and connect converge in more immersive, interactive, and transformative ways than ever before. This is the future of entertainment and EA is leading the way. Now Stuart and I are here for your questions.

: Thanks Andrew.

Andrew Erckbitts, Vice President, Investor Relations, Electronic Arts: We will take one question and one follow-up from each analyst. With that, Sarah, we are now ready for our first question.

Sarah, Conference Operator: Thank you. Your first question comes from Doug Creutz of TD Cowen. Your line is open.

Doug Creutz, Analyst, TD Cowen: Hey, thank you. Just wondered if you could talk about your thoughts about full game pricing. Nintendo has put an $80 price point out there. Microsoft did, but then they’ve pulled it back and presumably that does impact how they’re going to price Call of Duty this fall. So when you think about your games in particular Battlefield, you know, where do where do you see yourself landing in terms of the 70 versus the $80 price point?

Thanks.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: So, you know, I’ll start now. Let’s do it kind of lean into that a little bit more. We’re not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage, but that’s in the construct of we already offer a fairly broad pricing scheme across our various products. When you think about everything from free to play through to our premium products and our deluxe editions, our orientation is always to capture the full spectrum of pricing so that we can serve players in the best way possible and offer them the greatest value. We’ll continue to look at opportunities to deliver great value to our players through various pricing schemes over the course of time, but no dramatic changes planned yet.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: And Doug, just to kind of wrap that, we haven’t factored in any different approach in pricing through the current fiscal year and current guidance. Given the size of our live service business, we continue to be very focused on LTV for us across our player base and to Andrew’s point, operating through a wide spectrum of pricing, but no change in our guidance for 2026 at this point.

Doug Creutz, Analyst, TD Cowen: Great. Thank you.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from Colin Sebastian of Baird. Your line is open.

Colin Sebastian, Analyst, Baird: Thanks. Good afternoon, everybody. Really good to hear about the Apex improvements. I guess, first off, I was curious what Life Services growth was in the quarter excluding Apex. Sorry if I missed that earlier.

And then thinking about the healthier trends you’re seeing across the portfolio and with some of the positive feedback we’re hearing on Battlefield gameplay and the strong interest in Skate Trials, Are your expectations for those newer releases changing at all as you work through the year? Thank you.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: Well, I’ll quickly tackle the first one. On the Apex, we had a low single digit growth on live service outside of Apex. I just want to kind of walk back a little bit to Apex and reiterate that obviously we set out this year with a meaningful assumption of headwinds. We obviously improved that by two points inside the quarter. We’ve actually shifted that through Q2 as well as we continue to look for momentum and you would expect that original five points we talked to was really H1 loaded with improving comps as we get through the back half of the year.

So in effect, we’ve accelerated improvement right through H1. And as we think about the rest of year, we’re well positioned on Apex.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from Eric Handler with Roth Capital. Your line is open.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: Good afternoon. You gave some really

: good color about with FC, with mobile and online. Wonder if you could talk a little bit about the cohort spending and how that’s progressed with Ultimate Team.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: In terms of cohort spending on SC, we continue to be focused heading into ’26. We saw strong pickup inside of Q1 with the key cohorts that we built out from back into Q4. As you think about ’26, we continue to see the ability for us to lean into those cohorts. We’ve been in different modes to play. But also more importantly, as we continue to expand the user base across the franchise, we think about things like Rush, we’ve tried different ways to integrate value for players through things like Premium Pass.

And as we look to think through both FC online and mobile, they continue to drive greater reach across the product from a global perspective. So continue to see strong engagement, strong retention through the core cohorts, seeing that continue through Q1. Obviously, it’s been a core and critical focus for us as we start to bring forth enhancements around the game as we head into FY 2026 and take the learnings from last year.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: That’s helpful, Stuart. Thanks.

: And just as a follow-up, you did the full year guidance unchanged. However, full year bookings in constant currency terms is now one hundred two hundred points lower. Now there’s always some puts and takes, but I wonder if there was anything that you could point to for that differential.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: No. I mean, obviously, we’ve you remember back when we originally set the guidance, we’re in a position where FX was a one point headwind. So we’ve obviously seen, albeit our first quarter and a relatively small part of the fiscal year, and at this point haven’t changed or rolled through that FX, obviously being incredibly volatile. We also did put inside the script if we did see FX rates continue to stay as they are unchanged through the rest of the fiscal year, that will continue to drive tailwinds for us on the way through. So difficult to call at this point.

We had small FX tailwinds inside Q1, but it would be a more meaningful shift for us knowing we’re H2 loaded by virtue of our revenue scale this year. So tailwinds to come should the rates stay the same and obviously shifted from a one point headwind in our original guide.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: Thank you.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from James Heaney of Jefferies. Your line is open. James Heaney of Jefferies, perhaps your line is on mute.

: Yes. Sorry about that. Great. Thanks thanks for the question. Andrew, could you just talk about the marketing strategy for Battlefield and how it differs from prior versions of the game?

And then, Stuart, on the same topic, could you just talk about how you’re thinking about the timing and the magnitude of that marketing investment? Thank you.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Yeah. Great question. Thank you. Certainly, you’re going to see a lot more in a a couple of days. We’ve been investing more behind this Battlefield than any Battlefield product before it.

And really, the big reason for that is this isn’t just a product. We’re really building out Battlefield as a platform. And you’ll hear a lot more about this in just two days’ time, and you’ll see a lot more about it in two days’ time. And all will become more clear about the nature of our investment over the last four years with four studios building against this launch to date. As we’ve thought about marketing the product again, we’re gonna get right behind it.

We’re all in as a company on it. You may have seen the release trailer just a week or so ago. That was very well received. Of course, it’s just a release just a release trailer. Most of our gamers are sitting there waiting for the big reveal that comes in a couple of days.

We have hundreds of creators and influencers flying into LA and to destinations around the world. They’ll spend all day with the products tomorrow, and they’ll begin streaming that product, out to their fan bases, on Thursday. And we’re really, really excited about that because in addition to the various pieces of the overall experience that players have been seeing as part of Battlefield Labs, which again was a very new way for us to to really gain alignment with the community around the development of this this product, this platform, this will be the first time people really see the true scale of what we’ve been building and get sneak peeks at what’s to come.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: And with regards to timing around the investment, you should expect from the last full year guidance range, we said our OpEx growth was predominantly driven by investment in new launches, in particular around Battlefield. When you think about the phasing and how that plays, you’ll notice that in the Q2 quarter, we’re up over mid single digits on OpEx, which is predominantly driven by starting to build out the go to market campaign, increased investment and resourcing as you bring the title close to commercial launch, the Battlefield Labs event and even the event that we have that Andrew just referenced coming up in two days’ time. More front loaded into Q2. We’ll continue to see investment into Q3 and beyond as we start to outline more around the product in the coming days.

: Great. Looking forward to the event. Thank you.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from Mike Hickey with The Benchmark Company. Your line is open.

Mike Hickey, Analyst, The Benchmark Company: Hey, Andrew, Stewart, Andrew, congrats guys on a strong quarter. Thanks for taking our questions. Just two quick ones. Curious how you’re thinking about the competitive setup this year between Battlefield and Call of Duty. Obviously, there’s the rumored October 10 release date, which looks like it’s very well positioned, if true.

But just sort of curious how you’re thinking about the competitive profile overall? And then, I guess similar in tone, curious about this new rematch game, Andrew, came out about a month ago. I think you did about 5,000,000 units. Obviously, it’s more casual focus, not a simulation. But do you think there’s any competitive pressure here potentially on your EA SPORTS FC release at the September?

Thanks, guys.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Yeah. Great great questions on both. First, we feel very good, about the competitive slate relative to Battlefield this year. Certainly, we believe that the game we’ve built and all the modes around it, are very in line with fan expectations around the world, both existing Battlefield fans and new to the franchise fans that we’re seeing coming in based on trailer views and what we expect to come through based on our release event in the next couple of days. So we’ve spent a lot of time and a lot of energy ensuring that this battlefield is the battlefield that the community expects and then some.

And so given that relative to what we’re seeing in the marketplace, we feel very, very good about our launch window. And again, shameless plug, just two days from now, you’ll heal hear all about it, so please tune in. As it relates to rematch, you know, relative to FC, I would tell you, you know, like every great sports team, we love competition. We we come to work every day to compete. That’s been true for all of our games, especially our sports games for the best part of thirty or forty years.

I think competition makes us better. We’re always watching what the competition does. We’re always evaluating where there are new needs being met for new players. We’re always looking to work that into the offerings that we have for players. When I think about what we do in FC across the the magnitude of licenses that we have, the the reach of geographies that we operate the game in, the platforms, the business models, the modes, I feel very, good about our competitive ability, in the context of soccer.

We never rest in our laurels. We never sit back with arrogance, and pretend we don’t have to be thoughtful about what’s going on in the marketplace and what new players might want out of the next football experience that they wanna play. But net net, I think we have the greatest football creation team on the planet. And I’m encouraged not just by what they’re building this year, and certainly, the demand metrics around FC26 are very, very, very strong, as I said in the prepared remarks. But I’m equally as excited about what they’re building in years to come as we think about an upcoming World Cup and the many new social platform features that we’ve teased in past conversations.

Thanks guys. Good luck.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Thanks so much for taking the questions. Maybe just two on American football. What has been the consumer receptivity this year to sort of bundling the products together between Madden and NCAA? And how that might arc as a theme to go to market over the long term based on what you might be learning this year? And then in terms of the global scope for the Madden game, you talked a fair bit about that last year during the NFL season as there was more global attention on the game and there’s more games being played overseas this year.

How do you think about the potential for the band to be more of a global franchise over time? Thanks so much. Yeah. Great question. You know, what we’ve been talking about since the launch of college football last year is that we really truly believe this is an American football ecosystem.

As we look at the sports broadly, you know, the NFL continues to be, you know, 90 plus percent of the highest rating broadcast in this country. College football continues to grow, and certainly as it becomes more professional in nature, expectation is that fandom will continue to grow, and the product itself will continue to improve and really take its place alongside the NFL. As we think about our college football product, our NFL product, and all of the things that we do in between those two things, we believe it will act as a as a multiplier effect. As a as a brand, EA Sports has had the benefit of nearly forty years of working symbiotically with sports to both help grow the sport and have the sport help grow our business. And we feel very good about how that will work in the context of NFL and our college property.

One part of that, of course, is the dual purchase of those two products. It was very successful last year. We expect it will continue to be well received by our fan base this year. But as we think medium term to longer term, we we have a vision to do significantly more in the context of connecting those two experiences and really harnessing the full power of football fandom. And again, in the same way we have teased with FC, we’ve also teased this in the context of American football of this broader social ecosystem where you can come not just to compete, not just to, collaborate, but also to celebrate your fandom.

And so as we look over the the medium to long term, we believe there’s incredible growth opportunity in the American football ecosystem broadly, almost certainly in this country, but also as we see the NFL doing more and more internationally, having just returned from Australia and having all of my friends ask me about NFL, I can, you know, I can testify that, yes, the the fandom around the world is truly growing. In the same way, we’ve seen growth of FC in North America as the sports grown here. You remember in the last World Cup, North American sales grew 50%. I actually expect that we should start to see over the course of time growth in demand around the Madden product in particular and perhaps also the college product internationally. Thank you.

Sarah, Conference Operator: The next question comes from Andrew Maroc with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: Thank you for taking my question. Maybe in a similar vein to the last question, now that you’ve had more than a full cycle to collect the data, how distinct are the player bases between college football and Madden? And how important is it to kind of keep them as distinct feeling experiences when someone actually plays the game?

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: I you know, I’d like to say the fan base is a hundreds of millions strong. And but there we what we do know is there’s meaningful crossover, but there is real expectation of differentiation between the two experiences. And if you read any of the feedback that we’re getting on the launch of college football this year, it’s being recognized at how we are manifesting the individuality of what college football is and all the pageantry and what happens across a 150 schools and the various playbooks that are used in college football relative to the NFL. And then what, you know, the the spectacle of what the NFL brings in the context of Madden. So I think that even as we continue to build, experiences that are more deeply connected and offer fans an opportunity to engage deeply in both, we will always maintain the differentiation between what is the core experience, not just on what happens on the field, but the essence of what the sport delivers to fans.

And that will almost always be a little different amongst college and the NFL, but our belief is that in the context of the two games that we make and all of the social features and ecosystem we build around it, that we can both capture that individuality and meet the needs of players across the two franchises.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: Great. Thank you. Maybe just a quick follow-up there. We saw some of the reports earlier, in the month about a potential return to, to college basketball. So I guess in the context of your undeniable success with college football so far, how are you viewing the broader basketball ecosystem as an opportunity, since you haven’t had a pro game in a few years?

Thank you.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Yeah. Good great question. You know, we we can’t say too much about it yet, but, you know, if I think about the opportunity, you know, going back to where we are in college football, college sports is some of the most vibrant fan base in the world, and that kinda that trickles over to basketball. Certainly, we’re seeing momentum of fandom in college basketball also continue to grow. Fans, athletes, you know, universities pull their passion to these sports, and it is that passion that makes them special.

It’s what makes the games different per the the first part of your question. But with that comes high expectations and, you know, a demand for deeply authentic experiences, you know, capturing the action on the field of the court, representing the energy, pageantry, the traditions, and celebrating unique sights and sounds and stories of every school and rivalry. We feel like we deliver that incredibly well with college football. A 140 schools represented the bowl, the playoffs, the trophies. I think the groundbreaking NAL program that we were able to activate ensuring more than 11,000 student athletes could be included and compensated in the game is a great representation of how we think about college sports.

We’d love to do the same for basketball, you know, all 350 programs, men’s and women’s teams, the iconic traditions and rivalries, and, of course, March Madness. So for us, you know, college sports broadly is an exciting opportunity. We feel like we’ve done a really strong job and, you know, are going to remain committed to doing that in the context of college football. We believe that, you know, with what we’ve done with the teams, the technology, and our commitment around college football, we’d have a great ability to do the same for college basketball. And as as we look to try and activate again against that opportunity, we’ll be able to share more.

Eric Handler, Analyst, Roth Capital: Great. Thank you.

Sarah, Conference Operator: Your last question comes from the line of Cory Carpenter with JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Andrew Erckbitts, Vice President, Investor Relations, Electronic Arts0: Good afternoon. Thanks for the question. There’s been some significant changes to App Store economics following the Apple epic ruling a few months ago. Curious, does this change your thinking at all around the mobile opportunity or perhaps open up new ways for you to engage players on the mobile platform? And perhaps related to that, any update you can provide on the EA SPORTS app would be helpful.

Thank you.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Yeah. You know, there there have been some real changes. Our orientation has always been to meet fans where they are. You know, that has meant that we’ve delivered experiences on console, on PC, and on mobile. It’s meant that we’ve delivered monetization for those experiences through both third party stores and our own stores.

As we think about, you know, these emerging opportunities, we’re gonna continue to meet fans where they are. And to the extent that we can offer fans extraordinary experiences and remove the friction for them to invest in that, we will do so, but not to the detriment of the fan experience.

Stuart Canfield, CFO, Electronic Arts: And, Corey, just to add a little bit onto that, obviously, we don’t yet break out the contributions. But I think what you heard us start to say is and to Andrew’s point a second ago is, we want to continue to make sure that we create a frictionless experience, obviously, meeting players, certainly by territory and countries. And we’ve we’ve noted before that four of the top five territories in mobile are completely distinct and different from the HD properties. And by virtue of the infrastructure from an economic perspective in those countries, where web stores are applicable for us in particular or different bespoke ways for us to reach those players and create a frictionless funding mechanic will obviously try and drive that. It will naturally have a greater contribution to us on overall profitability and you started to see us within FC be far more expansive in this approach and to great success thus far.

But again, back to Andrew’s point, we’ll continue to make sure that it’s the right experience and the right platform mechanic for us to monetize. Obviously, we’ll look for that opportunity as we continue to expand globally.

Andrew Wilson, CEO, Electronic Arts: Okay. Well, thank you everyone for joining us and for your thoughtful questions. We’ve had a great start to FY ’26, and we’re seeing real strength across the portfolio as we execute against our strategy that’s delivering momentum as we go into the rest of the year. I’d also like to say, you know, please tune in in two days to see our battlefield reveal. I know you have many questions.

A great many of those will be answered, and you may leave with some more questions, but almost all of them, I hope, will be positive in nature. So thank you very much, and we will see you next quarter.

Sarah, Conference Operator: That concludes today’s meeting. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.