EA lifts annual sales forecast on boost from stuck-at-home gamers

(Reuters) – Electronic Arts Inc on Thursday raised its full-year forecast for adjusted revenue after beating quarterly estimates, encouraged by strong player engagement and increased videogame sales to stuck-at-home gamers.

EA, popular for titles like “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” and “Battlefield”, raised its full year adjusted revenue outlook to about $5.95 billion from about $5.55 billion, topping analysts’ estimates of $5.61 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Videogame sales have largely benefited from people who played more games while staying at home and bought virtual in-game content across platforms, pushing June sales up 26% to $1.2 billion, which is the highest June spend in over a decade according to research firm NPD.

However, EA had earlier pushed the launch of its annualized football title “FIFA 21” to October, the start of its third quarter, which dragged current quarter adjusted revenue forecast of about $875 million below Street estimates of $1.29 billion.

Adjusted revenue for the first quarter ended June 30, rose to $1.39 billion, beating analysts’ estimate of $1.05 billion.

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)