Image source: Electronic Arts.
Electronic Arts (EA 1.30%) reported fiscal 2017 first-quarter results on Aug 2. The video game publisher saw sales rise despite a lack of major console game releases, as the company's digital and mobile businesses continue to gain steam.
Electronic Arts results: The raw numbers
| Metric |
Q1 2017 |
Q1 2016 |
Growth (YOY) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$1.271 million |
$1.203 million |
5.7% |
|
Net income |
$440 million |
$442 million |
(0.5%) |
|
Earnings per share |
$1.40 |
$1.32 |
6.1% |
Data source: Electronic Arts Q1 2017 earnings. YOY = year over year.
What happened with Electronic Arts this quarter?
Revenue rose 5.7% to $1.271 billion, exceeding Electronic Arts' guidance of $1.250 billion.
The company's blockbuster combat-based game franchises such as Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront continue to delight millions of fans, with more than 11.5 million and 6.6 million unique players in Q1, respectively.
Additionally, EA's Madden franchise remains a stalwart, with Madden NFL 16 unique players jumping more than 20% year over year, and monthly active players for Madden NFL Mobile surging 25% versus the prior-year period.
Importantly, the video game company's $689 million in high-margin digital sales comprised 54% of total revenue during the second quarter. That helped earnings per share increase 6.1% to $1.40, which also surpassed EA's guidance for $1.30 in EPS.
What did management have to say?
"Q1 was a great quarter for Electronic Arts with amazing engagement in our global communities," said CEO Andrew Wilson. "EA is leading our industry through innovation, with more of our biggest games powered by Frostbite, breakthrough EA SPORTS titles on console and mobile, and the unstoppable combination of Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 coming this holiday. We're looking forward to connecting more players around the world to each other through the games they love to play."
Looking forward
Electronic Arts expects to generate second-quarter revenue of approximately $915 million, with a net loss of $51 million, or $0.17 per share.
For fiscal 2017, Electronic Arts anticipates revenue of about $4.75 billion, with net income of $809 million and earnings per share of $2.56. The company is also forecasting full-year operating cash flow of approximately $1.3 billion.
"Our digital business drove this quarter, particularly outperformance from FIFA Ultimate Team on console and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes on mobile," added CFO Blake Jorgensen. "This success along with the launch of NBA LIVE Mobile gives us great confidence in our ability to operate and add new live services through the year."
