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Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) is set to report second-quarter fiscal 2022 results on Nov 3.

For the second quarter of fiscal 2022, EA expects GAAP revenues of $1.775 billion and earnings of 36 cents per share. Net bookings are expected to be $1.725 billion.

For the quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has been steady at $1.17 per share over the past 30 days. The figure indicates 303.5% growth from the year-ago reported figure.

The consensus mark for revenues, pegged at $1.76 billion, implies 93.7% increase from the year-ago reported figure.

The company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, missed the same in one, and were in line in the remaining one, delivering an earnings surprise of 338.5%, on average.

Electronic Arts Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

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Let’s see how things have shaped up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider

EA’s digital and live services revenues are expected to have gained from the popularity of its franchises, including Apex Legends, FIFA, Madden NFL and The Sims. The availability of Madden NFL 22 and Lost in Random is expected to have aided top-line growth and bookings.

EA continues to benefit from a spike in demand for video games due to coronavirus-induced social-distancing norms. Strong video game spending in the quarter is also expected to have benefited EA. Per Venturebeat, which cited NPD data, consumer spending on video games increased 10%, 7% and 3% year over year in July, August and September, respectively.

Further, EA's strength in Live Services in mobile games such as Madden Mobile, FIFA Mobile and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is expected to have positively impacted the top line. The acquisition of Glu Mobile is expected to have aided growth of EA’s mobile business, building on its network of 100 million monthly active players in mobile, and creating a market-leading portfolio of more than 15 top live services across multiple fast-growing genres.

However, increasing expenses toward game development and marketing are expected to have kept margins under pressure in the to-be-reported quarter. Stiff competition in the video game space is expected to have hurt EA’s market share in the to-be-reported quarter.

Key Announcements in Fiscal Q2

EA and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced a new FIFA 22 esports program that will incorporate three competitions, namely, FIFAe Club Series 2022, FIFAe Nations Series 2022, and the FIFA 22 Global Series, which will ultimately lead to the FIFAe World Cup 2022.

During the to-be-reported quarter, EA completed the acquisition of Playdemic, a premier mobile gaming company known for its award-winning game Golf Clash.

EA announced a change to the launch date of Battlefield 2042, which will now release worldwide on Nov 19, 2021.

EA announced the launch of Madden NFL 22. The company also revealed NHL 22, available from Oct 15, 2021.