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[bunkum]

Current Highlights (comparisons are to the quarter ended September 30, 2003)

The Sims 2 sold through more than one million copies worldwide within the first ten days of release - the biggest PC launch in EA's history.
Madden NFL 2005 became the #1 selling game of the year in North America -- in just one month.
Net revenue: North America -- up 32 percent to $473 million; Europe -- up 45 percent to $210 million; Asia Pacific -- up 21 percent to $21 million; Japan -- up 29 percent to $12 million. Reported net revenue increased by approximately $23 million or 4 percent due to changes in foreign currency rates.
Gross margin was 60.3 percent -- compared to 59.7 percent a year ago.
Operating income was $125 million -- compared to $102 million. Operating margin was 17.4 percent -- compared to 19.2 percent a year ago.
The acquisition of Criterion Software was completed in October, bringing the Burnout(TM) and Black franchises and RenderWare® technology to EA.
The Company announced plans to build a studio in China focused on creating games for this market.
EA received 4 out of the "Top Five PC Games with the Highest Expectations" awards and 2 out of the "Top Five Most Popular PC Games" awards at China Joy, China's equivalent to E3.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041019/196020_1.html

 

[sonycowboy]

I'm much more interested in the conference call, although I'll have to see how those numbers match estimated earnings.

 

[jarrod]

The Company announced plans to build a studio in China focused on creating games for this market.

???

I wonder if EA China will foucs on PC only or maybe release games on PS2, GBA & iQue also?

 

[Link316]

ERTS is down 5% afterhours, they're lowering guidance

 

[DMczaf]

Madden NFL 2005 became the #1 selling game of the year in North America -- in just one month.

:lol

 

[sonycowboy]

Madden NFL 2005 has sold over 4 million copies since launch.

The Sims 2 and Burnout 3: Takedown have each sold over one million copies in Europe alone.

 

[sonycowboy]

Ouch!

Electronic Arts Misses the Mark

By Troy Wolverton
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
10/19/2004 4:23 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Troy Wolverton

Electronic Arts (ERTS:Nasdaq - commentary - research) posted a disappointing second-quarter financial report after the bell Tuesday, with earnings below analysts' estimates and a profit forecast that also fell shy of Wall Street's expectations.

The company's shares plunged in after-hours trading, falling to $44.29 after closing the regular session at $46.66.

 

[DJ Demon J]

From /. :

EA Predicted to Announce Madden, NHL Sales Drops


Posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 19, @11:30AM
from the oooooooh-hanging'-tough dept.
bippy writes "Analyst PJ McNealy predicts that EA will announce Tuesday a 20 percent drop in sales for Madden and a 50 percent drop in sales for NHL 2005, partly due to the success of ESPN's low-price, high-content games. McNealy says this likely won't have a huge financial impact on the game developer, but it will affect them psychologically. I'm just surprised that ESPN's price cut worked. It seems that when Madden came out everyone was saying that the price cut wouldn't help ESPN or hurt EA."

 

[thorns]

Their shares are down almost 7%...
Could be the first time in a couple of years that EA is faltering.

 

[Wario64]

IT BEGINS!

 

[bunkum]

Their shares are down almost 7%...
Could be the first time in a couple of years that EA is faltering.

No doubt they will try and buy their growth, whats the first rumour gonna be?

EA to buy SCi Entertainment, that would make me rich

 

[UbiSoftologist]

An update on EA's earnings prospect by TheStreet.com:

...Analysts expect EA to lose market share during the holiday season, when it faces tough competition from the likes of Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Microsoft's (MSFT:Nasdaq - commentary - research) Halo 2. EA's guidance apparently reflects those expectations.

EA plans to launch 12 titles in the holiday quarter, Jenson said. The company also expects that more than 50% of its revenue will come from Europe in the quarter. Still, EA has been consistent in saying that it expects -- at best -- flat earnings and revenue during the holiday quarter, Jenson said.

The guidance "is what it is," Jenson said.

In addition to the increased competition, EA is coming under pressure from a number of other fronts, Jenson acknowledged. EA expects game prices on the whole to decline as this console cycle comes to a close, he said. Meanwhile, the company expects its research and development costs will continue to increase as it prepares for the next generation of consoles, which are slated to come out beginning late next year.

In its fiscal year to date, EA's spending on R&D is up 40% from the same period last year. While the company expects that growth rate to slow, it expects to continue to boost R&D expenditures next fiscal year.

Despite those challenges, EA's goal is to show top-line and bottom-line growth throughout the console cycle, Jenson said. The company hopes to balance the revenue and expense problems with increased productivity and incremental sales from initiatives such as its Pogo.com online gaming service, he said.

Jenson said: "I want to be clear: That remains our objective. It's not a slam dunk. There's a lot of things we need do."

Source: http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/stocks/troywolverton/10188884.html

 

[Gek54]

EA to buy SCi Entertainment, that would make me rich

I could only hope so if it meant there would be a Richard Burns Rally 2.

 

[Alf-Life]

Have to admire their 1337 business skills... (and if they didn't corner the casual, license and franchise market another company would).

Now, they just need to 'lend' Free Radical Design the Bond/GE license...

 

[snapty00]

Thank you, ESPN. May this slight chip lead to a large crack!

I have nothing against EA or its games or the fact that lots of people buy them. I just wanna see a couple of the EA masturbators on this board squirm.

 

[Andy787]

IT BEGINS!

TIME FOR SEGA TO CRUSH YOU, EA.