EA forecasts fourth-quarter bookings below estimates amid muted gamer spending

By Zaheer Kachwala

(Reuters) - Electronic Arts forecast fourth-quarter bookings below Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, as the videogame publisher grapples with a slowdown in spending at its popular soccer franchise.

It also announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan, which sent its shares up around 3% in extended trading.

The downbeat projection comes a few weeks after the company slashed its annual bookings forecast, citing weak in-game spending for "FC 25" and underperformance of its new Dragon Age title amid an uncertain economic environment marked by high inflation.

While "FC 25" had a strong launch, the momentum slowed through the holiday period partly due to players waiting longer to buy the new title, company executives said on a post-earnings conference call.

"EA's dependence on its soccer and overall sports business will force it to invest in improving the quality of the experience, as evidenced by its acquisition of TRACAB Technologies, which will push on margins," said Joost Van Dreunen, a lecturer at NYU's Stern School of Business.

The company on Monday announced the acquisition of TRACAB, a firm that provides tracking technology.

CEO Andrew Wilson said the company is "confident in a return to growth in FY26 and beyond," with multiple games under development including the next installment of "Battlefield."

EA's sports portfolio has remained one of its strongest assets, especially its American football titles, which topped sales charts last year and are on track to exceed $1 billion in net bookings for this fiscal year, the company said.

It expects fourth-quarter bookings between $1.44 billion and $1.59 billion, compared with estimates of $1.65 billion, as per data compiled by LSEG.

The company reported third-quarter bookings of $2.22 billion, missing expectations of $2.32 billion. It left its annual bookings forecast unchanged.

Diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were $1.11, compared with $1.07 in the previous year.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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