Electronic Arts Q3 FY3/2024 Financial Results (October - December 2023) | $2.2 billions in Net Bookings, NFL and FC up by 5% and 7% respectively

https://s22.q4cdn.com/894350492/files/doc_financials/2024/q3/Q3-FY24-Earnings-Release-FINAL.pdf

Announcement of operating, financial highlights and metrics

“Our incredible teams delivered a strong Q3, entertaining hundreds of millions of people across our portfolio, driving deep engagement and record live services,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. “We remain focused on growing our biggest franchises and delivering new, innovative games and experiences for our global communities.”
“EA SPORTS FC outperformed expectations again this quarter, delivering 7% year-over-year net bookings growth, as momentum continued through the FC brand transition,” said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. “We will continue to build upon the strength within our portfolio, while prioritizing investments in our largest opportunities for multi-year growth.”

Selected Operating Highlights and Metrics

• Net bookings for Q3 was $2.366 billion, up 1% year-over-year (up 2% in constant currency).
• Live services and other net bookings for Q3 achieved a record $1.712 billion, up 3% year-over-year (up 5% in constant currency). On a trailing twelve-month basis, live services were 73% of our business.
• The EA SPORTS FC franchise outperformed Q3 expectations, delivering 7% net bookings growth against a prior year that included the World Cup.
• EA SPORTS Madden NFL delivered net bookings growth of 5% year over year.

Selected Financial Highlights and Metrics

• Net revenue was $1.945 billion for the quarter.
• Net cash provided by operating activities for the quarter was $1.264 billion, up 13% year over year. For the trailing twelve months, net cash provided by operating activities was arecord $2.352 billion.
• EA repurchased 2.5 million shares for $325 million during the quarter, bringing the totalfor the trailing twelve months to 10.4 million shares for $1.300 billion.

Dividend
EA has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.19 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on March 20, 2024 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 28, 2024.

Expectations for the rest of the Fiscal Year

Business Outlook as of January 30th, 2023

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2023 Expectations – Ending March 31, 2024

Financial outlook metrics:

• Net revenue is expected to be approximately $1.625 billion to $1.925 billion.
• No change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected.
• Net income is expected to be approximately $54 million to $183 million.
• Diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $0.20 to $0.68.
• Operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $1.950 billion to $2.100 billion.
• The Company estimates a share count of 271 million for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share.

Operational metrics:

• Net bookings is expected to be approximately $1.625 billion to $1.925 billion.

A few slides from the Presentation

Net bookings by composition and by platform

Results Presentation - https://s22.q4cdn.com/894350492/files/doc_financials/2024/q3/Q3-FY24-Earnings-Slides-FINAL.pdf
Official Electronic Arts Inc. IR website - https://ir.ea.com/home/default.aspx

Previous threads

FY3/2024

Q1 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/electronic-arts-fy24-q1.1835/
Q2 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/fo...ts-fc-24-over-14-5m-accounts-in-4-weeks.2083/

FY3/2023

Q2 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/electronic-arts-q2-fy3-2023-financial-results.1168/
Q3 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/electronic-arts-q3-fy3-2023-financial-results.1346/
Q4 - https://www.installbaseforum.com/forums/threads/electronic-arts-ea-q4-fy2023.1601/

 

[ILikeFeet]

I would have figured their mobile games would grow more. With FC and Madden mobile, they have room to grow. They also have Plants vs Zombies 3, but I don't know the health of that series

 

[Evilnemesis8]

• The EA SPORTS FC franchise outperformed Q3 expectations, delivering 7% net bookings growth against a prior year that included the World Cup.

FIFA looking at all of this:

 

[Vena]

FIFA looking at all of this:

Good. Way more evil than EA, lol.

Really am kinda amazed how they just let this slip away. They thought their brand mattered more than it did in the end.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Good. Way more evil than EA, lol.
Really am kinda amazed how they just let this slip away. They thought their brand mattered more than it did in the end.

Craziest sentence I've read today, and yet it's true.
Considering how they're making their revenues nowadays, you've really got to try.

Also, as a small aside, I really think seeing less of Andrew Wilson and his incredibly cartoon villain CEO looks due to E3 being not a thing for years has been helping their public image with the masses.

And yeah, FIFA just massively greedy to their massive detriment and our glee.
There was never any other choice, where else would they find the manpower to deliver a yearly product on the scale of these games?