ERTS Electronic Arts Inc. (MM)

Electronic Arts Inc. reported a jump in quarterly revenue and nudged up its full-year outlook for revenue and profit, saying it anticipates other videogame publishers will issue fewer competing titles this holiday season.

Electronic Arts said Tuesday revenue rose 10% to $898 million in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, driven by the strength of its sports and mobile titles. The No. 2 U.S. game publisher by market value after Activision Blizzard Inc. said its net loss narrowed to 13 cents per share compared with a loss of 45 cents a year ago.

Electronic Arts said it expects robust holiday sales for its new shooter games "Battlefield 1" and "Titanfall 2," and a less crowded videogame market without new installments of franchises that came out last year around this time such as Ubisoft Entertainment SA's "Assassin's Creed Syndicate" and Bethesda Softworks LLC's "Fallout 4."

That outlook caused it to nudge up its forecast for the fiscal year that ends March 31 to revenue of $4.775 billion from an earlier forecast of $4.750 billion, and to net income of $848 million, or 4.8% more than it had expected previously.

"We're very optimistic about the business in general," said Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen.

Shares of Electronic Arts fell 2.7% in after-hours trading Tuesday following the quarterly results, but were recently up 6.6%. The shares had dipped recently, but were up 17.8% this year through Tuesday's market close.

Many analysts who follow videogame companies track financial measures adjusted for factors such as deferred sales of online services. Electronic Arts this quarter stopped reporting those measures, after U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pressed companies to hew to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Based on the Electronic Arts' results statement, however, its adjusted revenue in the latest quarter fell 4.5% to $1.1 billion. That compared with analysts' estimates of $1.09 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. Adjusted profit rose to 53 cents a share, according to the data, compared with estimates of 43 cents a share, and with a loss of 7 cents a year ago.

Mr. Jorgensen attributed strength in the company's sports titles to an improved "FIFA," its top-selling franchise. The latest game was the first in the series made using its Frostbite software, and features a new option to control a fictional athlete's career off the field. New content released for mobile games—namely "Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes" and "Madden NFL Mobile"-- also has helped keep players engaged, according to Mr. Jorgensen.

The current quarter will be the company's largest cash-flow quarter in history, he said, because of the strength of its shooter franchises—even though Activision Blizzard is planning later this week to release a new installment of the shooter "Call of Duty," last year's top-selling videogame in the U.S., according to NPD Group.

"We've always felt the third quarter is the best time to ship a shooter game," said Mr. Jorgensen. "There's a huge market between now and the end of year."

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 01, 2016 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)

Electronic Arts Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:ERTS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2024 to Nov 2024

Electronic Arts Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:ERTS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2023 to Nov 2024