EA SECOND-QUARTER ADJUSTED SALES FALL SHORT OF ESTIMATES

Electronic Arts Inc on Thursday reported quarterly adjusted sales below Wall Street estimates, as big-budget publishers compete to tap the lockdown-led surge in video-game sales. EA as well as rivals Activision Blizzard Inc and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc have benefited from a surge in video-game sales in the United States, with people staying home due to COVID-19. The company's adjusted revenue for the second quarter ended Sept. 30 dropped 30.7 per cent to US$910 million, missing analysts' average estimate of US$971.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. “If there's anything you know, it's clearly there's a return to a little more normal than what we saw in Q1 because Q1 was off the charts,” Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgenson told Reuters.