Electronic Arts managed to beat analyst expectations of $1.59 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the company’s 2024 fiscal year, revealing a $1.92 billion haul Tuesday in its latest earnings report. That figure exceeded last fiscal year’s first-quarter revenue of $1.77 billion, in line with EA’s own predictions for the quarter ending June 30, for which it anticipated bringing in somewhere between $1.83 billion and $1.93 billion.
Net income for the quarter was $402 million, exceeding EA’s estimates of a figure between $271 million and $316 million. Diluted earnings per share came out to $1.47, falling outside EA’s estimated $0.98 to $1.14 range and above the consensus figure of $1.01 per share.
“We had a strong start to the fiscal year, with net bookings growth of 21% year over year, highlighted by new releases, continued live services growth, healthy engagement, and new player acquisition,” said EA CFO Stuart Canfield. “Looking ahead, our teams remain focused on delivering long-term growth and profitability.”
The company joined the rest of the tech sector in instituting layoffs this year, aiming to trim its headcount by 6% as the industry places a renewed premium on organizational efficiency and profitability. The layoffs were alluded to in the quarterly earnings release via “restructuring” references.
EA’s latest “Star Wars” title “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” was briefly mentioned in the release, but its rough launch state was not addressed, nor was the ensuing consumer backlash that cast a shadow over the game since its late-April launch.
“EA delivered a record Q1, driven by strong momentum in EA Sports global football and ‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,’” said EA CEO Andrew Wilson. “Our exceptional teams are creating innovative entertainment experiences across our multi-year pipeline, starting with the highly anticipated, culture defining titles ‘Madden NFL 24’ and ‘EA Sports FC 24.’”
As noted in the release, EA Sports’ “FIFA” continued to make money for the company, as did free-to-play, team-based battle royale game “Apex Legends,” which has been high on Steam’s list of PC games by revenue for a long while. EA also sells this and other games through its own Origin storefront.
For the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 that ends September 30, EA anticipated revenue between $1.83 and $1.93 billion, net income falling within the $197 million to $243 million range and diluted earnings per share forecast between $0.72 and $0.89.
