Electronic Arts announced strong preliminary results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2025.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson said in a statement said that EA Sports College Football and EA Sports FC drove good results, with a “historic Q4” for The Sims. EA is also gearing up for the reveal of its new Battlefield game this summer.
In an analyst call, Wilson said, “EA is on track to reveal Battlefield at a major summer event.” This is a lot easier for him to say after GTA VI’s delay.
EA reported net bookings of $7.355 billion, while EA Sports delivered another record net bookings year in fiscal 2025. EA’s American football franchise, Madden, exceeded $1 billion in net bookings in FY2025.
Analysts were expecting 91 cents a share in earnings per share on revenue of $1.55 billion. For the fiscal year, analysts had estimated earnings of $4.17 a share on revenues of $7.15 billion. For the next quarter, analysts expect 33 cents a share of net income on revenue of $1.27 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect net income of $4.49 a share on revenue of $7.6 billion.
In EA Sports FC, player monetization was up double digits, starting with the mid-January gameplay update. That’s important, as in the previous quarter, the soccer game’s results were not as good (mid-single-digit growth), leading to a stock selloff. Dragon Age: The Veilguard also missed targets last quarter, selling just 1.5 million copies against much higher expectations.
Another bright spot was Split Fiction, an EA Partners game from Josef Fares’ Hazelight with a clever two-person split-screen co-op approach, has sold nearly four million units since its hugely successful launch in March. Hazelight’s previous EA Partners title, It Takes Two, won game of the year in 2021 and it generated more than 20 million copies sold. Split Fiction is similar in that it’s a lot of fun with a good storyline. EA CFO Stuart Canfield said in an analyst call that Split Fiction sales were twice expectations.
“The big takeaway is that the scare from Ultimate Team that drove them to preannounce seems to have remedied itself. They more than offset continuing weakness in Apex Legends, which isn’t really all that concerning, and both American and Global Football performed really well in the quarter. Their guidance shows a lot of confidence, and I’m comfortable that it is realistic,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush, in a message to GamesBeat.
“The incredible success of College Football and the enduring strength of FC drove another record year for EA Sports, while The Sims capped FY25 with a historic Q4,” said Wilson in a statement. “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, a pivotal step in delivering on our next generation of blockbuster entertainment.”
“Q4 marked a strong finish to FY25, with broad-based momentum across the portfolio positioning the business for accelerated growth,” said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA, in a statement. “As we enter FY26, we remain focused on disciplined execution as we build toward a slate of groundbreaking upcoming releases.”
For its 25th birthday year, The Sims franchise continues its strong momentum with double digit growth in the quarter.
Financial Highlights and Metrics
Net revenue for FY25 was $7.463 billion. Net cash provided by operating activities was $549 million for the quarter and $2.079 billion for the fiscal year.
EA repurchased 9.8 million shares for $1.375 billion during the quarter, bringing the total for the fiscal year to 17.6 million shares for $2.500 billion. EA declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents per share of the company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on June 18, 2025 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 28, 2025.
Business outlook
Fiscal year 2026 expectations
As of May 6 for the business, for the fiscal year 2026, EA foresees about $7.600 billion to $8.000
billion.
Year-over-year net bookings growth in fiscal year 2026 is expected to be driven by the EA Sports portfolio, The Sims, and the launches of Battlefield and Skate, partially offset by approximately 5 points of weakness in catalog and Apex Legends. EA has been doing its largest playtest ever for players for Battlefield gameplay, with lots of leaks and official snippets showing some incredible scenes of action and destruction in the game.
EA expects continued growth in live services, as well as the launch of new non-annual titles in fiscal year 2027.
In terms of financial metrics, EA said net revenue is expected to be approximately $7.100 billion to $7.500 billion. The change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be $500 million.
And EA said GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $4.470 billion to $4.570 billion. Year-over-year increases in expenses are largely attributable to costs related to Battlefield marketing.
Net income is expected to be approximately $795 million to $974 million. Diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $3.09 to $3.79.
Operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $2.200 billion to $2.400 billion. The company estimates a share count of 257 million for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share.
The company intends to return at least 80% of free cash flow with stock repurchases and dividends through fiscal year 2027. And EA reiterated its financial margin framework through fiscal year 2027 shared
at its September 2024 investor day.
Q1 fiscal year 2026 expectations – for the quarter ending June 30, 2025
Net bookings is expected to be approximately $1.175 billion to $1.275 billion. Live services growth, excluding Apex Legends, is expected to be up low-single-digits year-over-year led by the EA Sports portfolio, offset by approximately 5 points of headwind from Apex Legends and 2 points of headwind from catalog.
On the financial side, net revenue is expected to be approximately $1.550 billion to $1.650 billion. Change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately ($375) million.
GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $1.110 billion to $1.120 billion. Expenses in Q1 are impacted by continued investments in line with Q4 FY25, as well as costs associated with resource reprioritization.
Net income is expected to be approximately $125 million to $169 million. Diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately 49 cents to 66 cents. The company estimates a share count of 255 million for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share.
Quarterly/annual financial highlights
EA’s total net revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, was $1.895 billion, including $437 million in full-game revenue and $1.458 billion in live service and other revenue. A year ago, net revenue was $1.779 billion, including $333 million in full-game revenues and $1.446 billion in live service and other revenues.
Net income was $254 million, or 98 cents a share, compared with $182 million, or 67 cents a share for the same quarter a year earlier.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, net revenue was $7.463 billion, including $2.002 billion in full-game revenue and $5.461 billion in live services and other revenues. A year ago, net revenue was $7.562 billion, including $2.015 billion in full-game revenue and $5.547 billion in live services and other revenues.
In the analyst call, Wilson said EA is using AI to push the boundaries on storytelling, game development art to accelerate the company’s business.
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