FILE PHOTO: Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts speaks at the WSJTECH live conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S. October 21, 2019. REUTERS/ Mike Blake/ File Photo
(Reuters) - Electronic Arts forecast fiscal 2026 bookings above Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as the videogame publisher bets on the strong performance of its sports titles and the launch of a new "Battlefield" game.
Shares of the company soared more than 7% in extended trading.
EA's positive outlook signals the gaming industry's optimism around sales resilience in the face of a broader pullback in consumer spending amid macroeconomic volatility stemming from U.S. tariffs.
Last week, Roblox had also raised its annual bookings forecast and beat quarterly results estimates.
"As we look to the future, we're confident in our ability to execute across a deep pipeline - beginning this summer with the highly anticipated reveal of Battlefield," said EA CEO Andrew Wilson.
EA's bet on the new game in the more-than-two-decades-old "Battlefield" franchise comes just days after Take-Two Interactive delayed the release of the long-awaited "Grand Theft Auto VI" out of its fiscal 2026.
Analysts have said the delay in GTA VI reduces competition and could drive higher sales for other videogame publishers.
For EA, gamers have also chosen to stick with proven titles from its sports portfolio such as soccer franchise "FC" and "Madden NFL".
EA on Tuesday said monetization for "FC" was up double digits after a January update. The soccer franchise had underperformed earlier this year.
EA forecast fiscal 2026 bookings to be in the range of $7.60 billion to $8 billion, compared with estimates of $7.62 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The outlook is also higher than the $7.36 billion in bookings EA recorded for the fiscal ended March 31 this year.
It reported fourth-quarter bookings of $1.80 billion, beating estimates of $1.56 billion, aided by strong sales of its multiplayer action-adventure game "Split Fiction" which became one of the best-selling games in March.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
