Electronic Arts (EA – Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2018 results, wherein the company’s adjusted earnings of 36 cents per share easily beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 14 cents.
Revenues (excluding deferred revenues) came in at $775 million compared with $682 million in the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate stood at $765.9 million.
Per EA, total revenue came in at $1.449 billion, up 14% year over year. Continued increases in digital revenues and strength in games like The Sims, Star Wars, and EA Sports titles like FIFA 17 and Battlefield 1 were the driving factors.
EA’s digital revenues (60.7% of revenues) increased 28% to $879 million while revenues from EA’s Packaging goods and Other segment (39.3% of total revenue) were down 2% to $570 million.
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Electronic Arts Inc. Quote
Further segregating digital revenues, full game downloads revenues were up 53% to $209 million from the first quarter of fiscal 2017 while EA mobile games increased 2% year over year to $169 million. Revenues from Live services increased 29% to $501 million. It now includes revenues from extra content and subscriptions, advertising, and others.
Margins
EA’s gross margin came in at 89.4% compared with 85.9% reported in the prior-year quarter.
Operating profit was $743 million, up 32.7% from the prior-year quarter.
Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
As of Jun 30, 2017, EA had $4.47 billion in cash and short-term investments compared with $3.834 billion as of Mar 31, 2016. Net cash provided by operating activities in the quarter came in at $176 million.
During the quarter, the company repurchased 1.4 million shares for $150 million. EA has $1.08 billion worth of shares left under its two-year $1.2 billion buyback program announced this May.
Outlook
