EA up; analyst upbeat on new titles like 'Sims 3'

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. climbed Tuesday following an upbeat report from Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian, who said the video game publisher's fiscal first-quarter results will likely beat Wall Street's expectations.

Sebastian, who rates Redwood City, Calif.-based EA "Hold," raised his estimates for the quarter, which ends this month. He now expects a loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $735 million, boosted by solid sales of new games, including "The Sims 3" and "EA Active," a workout game.

His earlier outlook was for a loss of 16 cents per share and sales of $695 million. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast a loss of 15 cents per share on sales of $710.4 million.

"Overall, we believe there is improving visibility for EA's fiscal 2010 sales and profit targets, supported by stabilization in EA's market share and successful cost-cutting efforts," Sebastian said.

EA's shares rose 88 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $21.69 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $14.24 and $50.17 in the past 52 weeks.