Posted in: Games, Games Finance, Video Games | Tagged: battlefield, battlefield 1, EA, FIFA, FIFA 18, The Sims, The Sims Mobile

EA Credits FIFA, Battlefield 1, and The Sims for Strong Q4 Growth

Published Wed, 30 May 2018 20:20:30 -0500

by Madeline Ricchiuto

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EA has released its investor report for the fourth quarter and end of fiscal year, which ended on March 31st, 2018. The company pinned much of its solid growth over the quarter (and over the year) on franchises like Battlefield, FIFA, and The Sims.

The EA Sports franchises have grown to nearly 90 million players on current generation consoles to date, which is pretty staggering. Nearly 18 million of that 90 engaged in competitive gaming in both FIFA 18 and Madden NFL 18, which is up more than 75% year over year. The Battlefield community also grew to more than 54 million players to date, while The Sims grew to over 80 million across PC and mobile platforms.

The company made no mention of the flop that was Star Wars: Battlefront II. After all, 2018 was a record year for EA despite the setbacks. And investor reports tend to weight successes much higher than failures.

As for their hard financials, the company's digital net bookings was $3.538 billion for fiscal 2018, up 17% year-over-year and represents 68% of total net bookings. Net cash provided by operating activities was $615 million for the fourth quarter and $1.692 billion for the fiscal year. Additionally, EA repurchased 1.2 million shares for $148 million during the quarter, with 5.3 million shares reclaimed over the year for a total of $601 million. The company also announced a new $2.4 billion, two-year stock repurchase program.

This isn't the first time we've seen EA bid to buy back stock. It's a trend the company's been continuing for quite some time.

You can take a closer look at EA's quarterly and yearly financial highlights below.

As for its plan going forward, EA has published some pretty aggressive 2019 expectations, likely hoping that Battlefield V, FIFA 19, Madden NFL 19, and The Sims 4 continue to rake in money for the company. After all, it's got quite a bit of EA Sports content releasing in the year, as well as a brand-new IP, Bioware's Anthem.

The company's expectations for Fiscal Year 2019 read:

Net revenue is expected to be approximately $5.600 billion.
- Change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be
  approximately $250 million.
- Mobile platform fees are expected to be approximately ($300) million.
Net income is expected to be approximately $1.108 billion.
Diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $3.55.
Operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $1.825 billion.
The Company estimates a share count of 312 million for purposes of calculating fiscal
year 2019 diluted earnings per share.
Net bookings is expected to be approximately $5.550 billion.

The financial report was accompanied by the following commentary:

"Fiscal 2018 was a year of strong growth and continued transformation for Electronic Arts, as we expanded the reach of our leading franchises like FIFA, Battlefield and The Sims to more players across more platforms and geographies," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wilson. "In the year ahead, we will expand the world of play with amazing new experiences and new IP, more competition, and industry-leading subscription programs. There has never been a more exciting time to be engaging and entertaining global communities."

"Electronic Arts had another record year," said COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen. "Our success is driven by the way we have changed, and continue to change, our relationship with players. They want more depth in their favorite games, and fresh content that can hold their attention year-round. This has made our business much more stable and enabled us to deliver a dependable and growing cash flow to investors."

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