Electronic arts reports q3 fy18 financial results
Redwood city, calif.--(business wire)--electronic arts inc. (nasdaq: ea) today announced preliminary financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended december 31, 2017. “players enjoyed hundreds of millions of hours in our games across console, mobile and pc during the holiday quarter, and we’re thrilled to see our titles driving excitement for more fans around the world,” said chief executive officer andrew wilson. “we’re expanding the reach of our top franchises across more geographies, our competitions are growing in participation and viewership, and we’re continuing to grow our network with more amazing games and content coming this quarter and beyond.” “our diversity in portfolio, platforms, geographies, and business models is the foundation of a robust business that enables us to deliver dependable cash flow,” said chief financial officer blake jorgensen. “through the fourth quarter and fiscal 2019, we’ll be launching games across five different genres, on three different platforms, and to players around the world. we expect growth in full-game downloads, subscriptions, extra content, and in our mobile business.” news and ongoing updates regarding ea and its games are available on ea’s blog at www.ea.com/news. selected operating highlights and metrics digital net bookings* for the trailing twelve months was a record $3.375 billion, up 18% year-over-year, and represents 67% of total net bookings for the same period. the fifa community grew to nearly 42 million players, on console alone, during the calendar year. fifa mobile added 26 million players to its total player base in the quarter. fifa ultimate team™ player base grew 12% year-over-year, from launch to the end of the quarter. in star wars™ battlefront™ ii, nearly 70% of players engaged in the single-player campaign. battlefield™ 1 now has more than 25 million unique players life to date. the sims™ 4 player base grew more than 35% year-over-year and delivered the highest-performing expansion pack to date during the quarter. the madden challenge entertainment special on the cw network was the #1 esports television broadcast in the u.s. for 2017. * net bookings is defined as the net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically in the period. net bookings is calculated by adding total net revenue to the change in deferred net revenue for online-enabled games. selected financial highlights and metrics all financial measures are presented on a gaap basis. net cash provided by operating activities was $849 million. net cash provided by operating activities for the trailing twelve months was $1.514 billion. during the quarter, ea repurchased 1.4 million shares for $150 million. for the trailing twelve months, ea repurchased 5.6 million shares for $578 million. quarterly financial highlights three months ended december 31, while ea no longer reports certain non-gaap financial measures, the following gaap-based financial data and a long-term tax rate of 21% are used internally by company management to adjust its gaap results in order to assess ea’s operating results: three months ended december 31, 2017 statement of operations acquisition-related expenses change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) stock-basedcompensation ea's gaap loss per share for the three months ended december 31, 2017 was calculated using the basic share count of 308 million. had ea reported a profit, the diluted share count would have been 311 million shares. for more information about the nature of the gaap-based financial data, please refer to ea’s form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended september 30, 2017. ttm financial highlights while ea no longer reports certain non-gaap financial measures, the following gaap-based financial data and a long-term tax rate of 21% are used internally by company management to adjust its gaap results in order to assess ea’s operating results: statement of operations acquisition-related expenses change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) stock-basedcompensation for more information about the nature of the gaap-based financial data, please refer to ea’s form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended september 30, 2017. operating metric the following is a calculation of our total net bookings for the periods presented: business outlook as of january 30, 2018 the following forward-looking statements reflect expectations as of january 30, 2018. electronic arts assumes no obligation to update these statements. results may be materially different and are affected by many factors detailed in this release and in ea’s annual and quarterly sec filings. fiscal year 2018 expectations – ending march 31, 2018 financial metrics: net revenue is expected to be approximately $5.100 billion. change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately $50 million. change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately $50 million. net income is expected to be approximately $1.015 billion. diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $3.25. includes the net impact of approximately ($0.48) per share due to the application of the tax cuts and jobs act. includes the net impact of approximately ($0.48) per share due to the application of the tax cuts and jobs act. operating cash flow is expected to be approximately $1.600 billion. the company estimates a share count of 312 million for purposes of calculating fiscal year 2018 diluted earnings per share. operational metric: net bookings is expected to be approximately $5.150 billion. in addition, the following outlook for gaap-based financial data and a long-term tax rate of 21% are used internally by ea to adjust our gaap expectations to assess ea’s operating results and plan for future periods: gaap guidance acquisition-related expenses change indeferred net revenue(online-enabled games) stock-based compensation fourth quarter fiscal year 2018 expectations – ending march 31, 2018 financial metrics: net revenue is expected to be approximately $1.532 billion. change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately ($307) million. change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) is expected to be approximately ($307) million. net income is expected to be approximately $579 million. diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $1.86. the company estimates a share count of 311 million for purposes of calculating fourth quarter fiscal year 2018 diluted earnings per share. operational metric: net bookings is expected to be approximately $1.225 billion. in addition, the following outlook for gaap-based financial data and a long-term tax rate of 21% are used internally by ea to adjust our gaap expectations to assess ea’s operating results and plan for future periods: gaap guidance acquisition-related expenses change in deferred net revenue(online-enabled games) stock-based compensation conference call and supporting documents electronic arts will host a conference call on january 30, 2018 at 2:00 pm pt (5:00 pm et) to review its results for the third fiscal quarter ended december 31, 2017 and its outlook for the future. during the course of the call, electronic arts may disclose material developments affecting its business and/or financial performance. listeners may access the conference call live through the following dial-in number 844-215-4106 (domestic) or 918-534-8313 (international), using the password “ea” or via webcast at ea’s ir website at http://ir.ea.com. ea has posted a slide presentation and a financial model of ea’s historical results and guidance on ea’s ir website. ea will also post the prepared remarks and a transcript from the conference call on ea’s ir website. a dial-in replay of the conference call will be available until february 13, 2018 at 855-859-2056 (domestic) or 404-537-3406 (international) using pin code 6194018. an audio webcast replay of the conference call will be available for one year on ea’s ir website. forward-looking statements some statements set forth in this release, including the information relating to ea’s fiscal 2018 expectations under the heading “business outlook as of january 30, 2018,” and information regarding ea's fiscal 2019 expectations contain forward-looking statements that are subject to change. statements including words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate” or “expect” and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements. these forward-looking statements are preliminary estimates and expectations based on current information and are subject to business and economic risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or actual future results to differ materially from the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements. some of the factors which could cause the company’s results to differ materially from its expectations include the following: sales of the company’s titles; the company’s ability to develop and support digital products and services, including managing online security and privacy; the company’s ability to manage expenses; the competition in the interactive entertainment industry; the effectiveness of the company’s sales and marketing programs; timely development and release of electronic arts’ products; the company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions; the consumer demand for, and the availability of an adequate supply of console hardware units; the company’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing platforms; the company’s ability to develop and implement new technology; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; general economic conditions; and other factors described in the company’s quarterly report on form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended september 30, 2017. these forward-looking statements are current as of january 30, 2018. electronic arts assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. in addition, the preliminary financial results set forth in this release are estimates based on information currently available to electronic arts. while electronic arts believes these estimates are meaningful, they could differ from the actual amounts that electronic arts ultimately reports in its quarterly report on form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended december 31, 2017. electronic arts assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these estimates prior to filing its form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended december 31, 2017. about electronic arts electronic arts (nasdaq: ea) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. the company develops and delivers games, content and online services for internet-connected consoles, mobile devices and personal computers. ea has more than 300 million registered players around the world. in fiscal year 2017, ea posted gaap net revenue of $4.8 billion. headquartered in redwood city, california, ea is recognized for a portfolio of critically acclaimed, high-quality brands such as the sims™, madden nfl, ea sports™ fifa, battlefield™, need for speed™, dragon age™ and plants vs. zombies™. more information about ea is available at www.ea.com/news. ultimate team, ea sports, battlefield, the sims, need for speed, dragon age, and plants vs. zombies are trademarks of electronic arts inc. star wars © & tm 2018 lucasfilm ltd. all rights reserved. john madden, nfl and fifa are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. three months endeddecember 31, nine months endeddecember 31, results (in $ millions, except per share data) the following table reports the variance of the actuals versus our guidance for the three months ended december 31, 2017 plus a comparison to the actuals for the three months ended december 31, 2016. 1diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution from common shares (calculated using the treasury stock method), issuable through stock-based compensation plans. when the company incurs a loss, shares issuable through stock-based compensation plans are excluded from the diluted loss per share calculation as inclusion would be anti-dilutive. 2derived from audited consolidated financial statements. 3operating and financing cash flow figures for the three and nine months ended december 31, 2016 have been recast to reflect the impact of asu 2016-09 which ea adopted at the beginning of fy18. 4the difference between the balances of deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets does not necessarily equal the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of cash flows due to the impact of unrecognized gains/losses on cash flow hedges. 1diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution from common shares (calculated using the treasury stock method), issuable through stock-based compensation plans. when the company incurs a loss, shares issuable through stock-based compensation plans are excluded from the diluted loss per share calculation as inclusion would be anti-dilutive. 4the difference between the balances of deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets does not necessarily equal the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of cash flows due to the impact of unrecognized gains/losses on cash flow hedges. 5live services includes net revenue previously presented as “extra content” and “subscriptions, advertising and other” through q4 fy17. 4the difference between the balances of deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets does not necessarily equal the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of cash flows due to the impact of unrecognized gains/losses on cash flow hedges. 6operating cash flow has been recast to reflect the impact of asu 2016-09 which ea adopted at the beginning of fy18.
