Is Electronic Arts on Its Way Back to $50?

By Paul Ausick Updated Published
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Microsoft Corporation
Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) posted a new 52-week high in the opening minutes of trading Wednesday, following a monumental earnings beat after markets closed Tuesday night. The stock could well be on track to return to its April 2008 level above $50 a share.

The games company posted first-quarter adjusted diluted EPS of $0.48 and $914 million in non-GAAP revenue. In the same period a year ago, EA reported EPS of $0.55 on non-GAAP revenues of $1.04 billion. First-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.12 and $812.35 million in revenue.

For its full fiscal year, EA posted EPS of $1.69 on revenues of $4.02 billion, compared with 2013 EPS of $0.84 on revenues of $3.79 billion. The consensus estimates called for EPS of $1.32 on revenues of $3.92 billion.

The video game maker offered first-quarter fiscal 2015 guidance of $700 million in non-GAAP revenue, sharply above the consensus estimate of $632.68 million, and adjusted EPS guidance for a loss of $0.05 per share, again significantly better than the consensus estimate for an EPS loss of $0.23. Full-year guidance calls for EPS of $1.85 and revenue of $4.1 billion. Full-year guidance is sharply above the consensus estimate of $1.52 for EPS, but slightly below the consensus revenue estimate of $4.11 billion.

Regarding Titanfall, EA’s exclusive title for the Xbox One from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), EA said only that it was one of the company’s three of five top-selling titles across all platforms in the Western World.

In the fourth quarter, 143 million EA mobile games were downloaded and the company said it posted record mobile revenue of almost $460 million for the fiscal year. EA’s mobile business reached more than 130 monthly active users in the year.

Shares were up about 18% Wednesday morning to $33.10, above the prior 52-week range of $18.05 to $30.56. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $30.80 before the results were announced.

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