FILE PHOTO: An Electronic Arts office is shown in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 27, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
(Reuters) -Videogame publisher Electronic Arts raised its forecast for fiscal 2025 bookings on Tuesday, helped by strong performance of its sports titles amid a cautious spending environment.
Shares of the company rose around 2% in extended trading.
EA's sports titles "Madden NFL" and "College Football" show strong engagement even as the industry navigates a challenging time marked by higher inflation.
The company now expects full-year bookings in the range of $7.50 billion to $7.80 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $7.30 billion to $7.70 billion.
Last month, the company at its investor day said it expects to achieve the higher end of its annual bookings forecast, with its football titles expected to record over $1 billion in bookings in the fiscal year.
"Madden NFL 25" and "College Football 25" dominated U.S. August video game sales, with the new college sports title claiming the top-selling title of the year, according to industry tracker Circana.
EA's push into college football "is providing insulation from the industry’s current lack of momentum," said Joost Van Dreunen, a lecturer at NYU's Stern School of Business.
To ease investor worries that college football would eat into the sales of the new Madden title, the company launched the "EA Sports MVP Bundle," featuring both games. The bundle is also seeing strong sales, according to Circana.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects EA's American football titles to hit $1 billion in the next year, owing to light competition in the space.
The company reported net bookings of $2.08 billion for the second quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.04 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
EA raised its expectations for annual net income to between $1.02 billion and $1.16 billion, from $904 million and $1.09 billion.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.15 per share, compared with estimates of $2.02 per share.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona and Maju Samuel)
