‘Fortnite’ scores big for company

Electronic Arts Inc. surged to its biggest gain since 2017 after the video-game maker said its latest release attracted 10 million users in 72 hours.

Apex Legends is the latest free-to-play battle royale game from Electronic Arts. The positive commentary and user traction garnered online has outpaced the early success of Epic Games Inc.’s “Fortnite,” a smash hit that has had publishers scrambling to catch up.

The “trading reaction this morning exemplifies how hit driven video gaming stocks remain, even if cloud gaming and subscription services, including outside party, should eventually be major positives if not fully transformative,” Buckingham Research’s Matthew Harrigan wrote in a note to clients.

Harrigan applauds the pace at which the game has won over players, however, he notes conditions on Apex Legends activity may be oversold, and the victory is still “dwarfed” by Fortnite’s base of approximately 200 million users.