Game kingpin and Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Electronic Arts
A year ago yesterday, fellow Fool Rick Aristotle Munarriz reported that Electronic Arts was hitting an all-time high and that Madden NFL 2004 was the top-selling game on Amazon.com
Well, it's a year later, and Electronic Arts is up a mere 10% over the last 52 weeks. The stock is down 11% from the all-time high it set in April. What's up?
As fellow contributor Jeff Hwang noted last week, Sega tried to lure customers away from the $50 Madden game with the $20 ESPN NFL 2K5. Discounters such as Target
The buzz now is that Electronic Arts might not have the strongest holiday lineup. One prize in that lineup is the James Bond game Golden Eye: Rogue Agent. James, Oddjob, and the whole gang are getting the attention of a 120-person creative team. This is going to be another quality effort from Electronic Arts, and its potential should not be underestimated.
Not part of the buzz, but certainly near and dear to Electronic Arts, is online gaming. Yesterday, Microsoft
Electronic Arts is selling for 24 times 2004 estimated earnings. With no debt, and $2.4 billion in cash, it is a financial powerhouse. And, although fellow Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Activision
Are you constantly confronted with stocks selling for 20 times earnings that are slower growers of revenue and earnings -- and some even carry monstrous debt loads? Electronic Arts is priced such that any favorable event could easily send this stock breaking out to new highs.
If you're game, here's more on the video fun industry:
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Fool contributor W.D. Crotty does not own stock in the companies mentioned.