Electronic Arts Profit Tops Street; Shares Up

(RTTNews) - Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) on Tuesday reported an increase in profit for the fourth quarter as revenues increased driven by strong demand for EA's "Star Wars" and sports-themed games. Shares of the company gained 6 percent in the after-hours trading, following the news.

Redwood City, California-based Electronic Arts fourth-quarter profit rose to $899 million or $2.79 per share from $395 million or $1.19 per share.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $161 million or $0.50 per share, up from $125 million or $0.39 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.42 per share.

Electronic Arts' revenues for the fourth quarter rose to $1.31 billion from $1.19 billion a year ago. Adjusted revenues grew 3.1 percent to $924 million from $896 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $888.78 million for the quarter.

EA said it is the #1 publisher on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles in the Western World for calendar year 2016. EA said Star Wars Battlefront increase its player base as more than 15 percent of Star Wars players were new to the EA ecosystem. Star Wars Battlefront sold in more than 14 million units in fiscal year 2016.

Looking forward to full year 2017, EA expects adjusted earnings of about $3.50 per share and revenues of around $4.90 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of of $3.50 per share on revenues of $4.86 billion.

For the first quarter, the company expects adjusted loss of about $0.05 per share and revenues of around $640 million. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.18 per share and revenues of $738.53 million.

EA closed Tuesday's trading at $64.54, up $0.02 or 0.03%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $4.19 or 6.50% in the after-hours trade.