Electronic arts reports q3 fy14 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, 2013. “ea’s third quarter marked an exciting start to a new generation of games, and we are proud to have been the #1 publisher on next-generation consoles in december, with millions of gamers across the globe playing ea titles on the playstation 4 and xbox one,” said chief executive officer andrew wilson. “in addition to consoles, our mobile games, digital downloads and live services are growing year-over-year as we continue to deliver exciting new experiences to gamers around the world.” “in a transitional quarter, ea delivered eps results above our guidance driven by strong sales of our next-generation console titles, continued growth in our digital games and services, and financial discipline across the business,” said chief financial officer blake jorgensen. “for our full year outlook, we are lowering our non-gaap net revenue guidance to $3.91 billion due to the weakness in current generation software, but we are increasing our non-gaap eps guidance to $1.30 due to the improvement in our operating profits.” this release, along with ongoing updates regarding ea’s business, is available on ea’s blog at http://ea.com/news. selected operating highlights and metrics: *on a non-gaap basis ea was the #1 publisher on the playstation 4 computer entertainment systems and xbox one, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from microsoft, in the western world in december, led by battlefield 4™, madden nfl 25, fifa 14 and need for speed™ rivals. for the month of december, fifa 14 and battlefield 4 were two of the top three best-selling titles across all platforms in the western world, and fifa 14 was the #1 title in europe. ea titles represented 35% of the western world playstation 4 and xbox one software sales in the third quarter. third quarter digital net revenue increased by 27% year-over-year to $517 million*, and trailing twelve month digital net revenue was a record $1.86 billion*. on a year-to-date basis, fifa ultimate team, madden nfl ultimate team, and nhl® hockey ultimate team collectively grew 60% year-over-year and drove digital net revenue* growth. ea’s mobile and handheld digital net revenue generated $125 million* in q3 fiscal 14, a 26% year-over-year increase over q3 fiscal 13. the simpsons™ tapped out generated over $130 million* in digital net revenue through q3 fiscal 14. trailing twelve months operating cash flow was $664 million, the highest trailing twelve month operating cash flow for ea since 2005. q3 financial highlights: for the quarter, non-gaap net revenue of $1.57 billion was below our guidance of $1.65 billion. non-gaap diluted earnings per share of $1.26 was above our guidance of $1.22. (in millions of $, except per share amounts) quarterended12/31/13 quarterended12/31/12 trailing twelve month (ttm) financial highlights: (in millions of $) ttmended12/31/13 ttmended12/31/12 gaap net revenue $3,661 $3,956 gaap net income (loss) (36) 175 non-gaap net revenue 4,147 3,730 non-gaap net income 551 151 cash provided by operations $664 $378 business outlook as of january 28, 2014 the following forward-looking statements, as well as those made above, reflect expectations as of january 28, 2014. 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 2014 expectations – ending march 31, 2014 gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $3.52 billion. non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $3.91 billion. gaap diluted loss per share is expected to be approximately $(0.42). non-gaap diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $1.30. the company estimates a share count of 316 million for purposes of calculating fiscal year 2014 diluted earnings per share, and 308 million for diluted loss per share. expected non-gaap net income excludes the following from expected gaap net loss: non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $385 million higher than gaap net revenue due to the impact of the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games); approximately $151 million of stock-based compensation; approximately $39 million of acquisition-related expenses; approximately ($2) million of restructuring charges; approximately $21 million from the amortization of debt discount; approximately $40 million of college football settlement expenses; and non-gaap tax expense is expected to be approximately $93 million higher than gaap tax expense. non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $385 million higher than gaap net revenue due to the impact of the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games); approximately $151 million of stock-based compensation; approximately $39 million of acquisition-related expenses; approximately ($2) million of restructuring charges; approximately $21 million from the amortization of debt discount; approximately $40 million of college football settlement expenses; and non-gaap tax expense is expected to be approximately $93 million higher than gaap tax expense. fourth quarter fiscal year 2014 expectations – ending march 31, 2014 gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $1.07 billion. non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $800 million. gaap diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $0.72. non-gaap diluted earnings per share is expected to be approximately $0.09. the company estimates a share count of 318 million for purposes of calculating fourth quarter fiscal year 2014 diluted earnings per share. expected non-gaap net income excludes the following from expected gaap net loss: non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $270 million lower than gaap net revenue due to the impact of the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games); approximately $40 million of stock-based compensation; approximately $19 million of acquisition-related expenses; approximately $5 million from the amortization of debt discount; and non-gaap tax expense is expected to be $5 million lower than gaap tax expense. non-gaap net revenue is expected to be approximately $270 million lower than gaap net revenue due to the impact of the change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games); approximately $40 million of stock-based compensation; approximately $19 million of acquisition-related expenses; approximately $5 million from the amortization of debt discount; and non-gaap tax expense is expected to be $5 million lower than gaap tax expense. conference call and supporting documents electronic arts will host a conference call on january 28, 2014 at 2:00 pm pt (5:00 pm et) to review its results for the fiscal quarter ended december 31, 2013 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: 773-799-3213 (domestic) or 888-677-1083 (international), using the password “ea” or via webcast at http://ir.ea.com. ea will also post a slide presentation that accompanies the call at http://ir.ea.com. a dial-in replay of the conference call will be provided until february 11, 2014 at the following number: 203-369-0099 (domestic) or 866-356-3373 (international). a webcast replay of the conference call will be available for one year at http://ir.ea.com. non-gaap financial measures to supplement the company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with gaap, electronic arts uses certain non-gaap measures of financial performance. the presentation of these non-gaap financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with gaap, and may be different from non-gaap financial measures used by other companies. in addition, these non-gaap measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with gaap. the non-gaap financial measures used by electronic arts include: non-gaap net revenue, non-gaap gross profit, non-gaap operating income (loss), non-gaap net income (loss) and historical and estimated non-gaap diluted earnings (loss) per share. these non-gaap financial measures exclude the following items, as applicable in a given reporting period, from the company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations: acquisition-related expenses amortization of debt discount certain non-recurring litigation expenses change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) college football settlement expenses loss (gain) on strategic investments restructuring charges stock-based compensation income tax adjustments electronic arts may consider whether other significant non-recurring items that arise in the future should also be excluded in calculating the non-gaap financial measures it uses. electronic arts believes that these non-gaap financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding gaap financial measures, provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the company’s performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of the company’s core business, operating results or future outlook. electronic arts’ management uses, and believes that investors benefit from referring to, these non-gaap financial measures in assessing the company’s operating results both as a consolidated entity and at the business unit level, as well as when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. these non-gaap financial measures also facilitate comparisons of the company’s performance to prior periods. in addition to the reasons stated above, which are generally applicable to each of the items electronic arts excludes from its non-gaap financial measures, the company believes it is appropriate to exclude certain items for the following reasons: acquisition-related expenses. gaap requires expenses to be recognized for various types of events associated with a business acquisition. these events include, expensing acquired intangible assets, including acquired in-process technology, post-closing adjustments associated with changes in the estimated amount of contingent consideration to be paid in an acquisition, and the impairment of accounting goodwill created as a result of an acquisition when future events indicate there has been a decline in its value. when analyzing the operating performance of an acquired entity, electronic arts’ management focuses on the total return provided by the investment (i.e., operating profit generated from the acquired entity as compared to the purchase price paid including the final amounts paid for contingent consideration) without taking into consideration any allocations made for accounting purposes. because the final purchase price paid for an acquisition necessarily reflects the accounting value assigned to both contingent consideration and to the intangible assets (including goodwill), when analyzing the operating performance of an acquisition in subsequent periods, the company’s management excludes the gaap impact of any adjustments to the fair value of these acquisition-related balances to its financial results. amortization of debt discount on the convertible senior notes. under gaap, certain convertible debt instruments that may be settled in cash on conversion are required to be separately accounted for as liability (debt) and equity (conversion option) components of the instrument in a manner that reflects the issuer’s non-convertible debt borrowing rate. accordingly, for gaap purposes, we are required to amortize as a debt discount an amount equal to the fair value of the conversion option as interest expense on the company’s $632.5 million of 0.75% convertible senior notes that were issued in a private placement in july 2011 over the term of the notes. electronic arts’ management will exclude the effect of this amortization when evaluating the company’s operating performance and the performance of its management team during this period and will continue to do so, when it plans, forecasts and analyzes future periods. certain non-recurring litigation expenses. during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, electronic arts recognized a $27 million expense related to a settlement of a litigation matter. this significant non-recurring litigation expense is excluded from our non-gaap financial measures in order to provide comparability between periods. further, the company excluded this expense when evaluating its operating performance and the performance of its management team during this period and will continue to do so when it plans, forecasts and analyzes future periods. change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games). the majority of our software games can be connected to the internet whereby a consumer may be able to download unspecified content or updates on a when-and-if-available basis (“unspecified updates”) for use with the original game software. in addition, we may also offer an online matchmaking service that permits consumers to play against each other via the internet. gaap requires us to account for the consumer’s right to receive unspecified updates or the matchmaking service for no additional fee as a “bundled” sale, or multiple-element arrangement. electronic arts is not able to objectively determine the fair value of these unspecified updates or online service included in certain of its online-enabled games. as a result, the company recognizes the revenue from the sale of these online-enabled games on a straight-line basis over the estimated offering period. internally, electronic arts’ management excludes the impact of the change in deferred net revenue related to online-enabled games in its non-gaap financial measures when evaluating the company’s operating performance, when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods, and when assessing the performance of its management team. the company believes that excluding the impact of the change in deferred net revenue from its operating results is important to (1) facilitate comparisons between periods in understanding our underlying sales performance for the period, and (2) understanding our operations because all related costs of revenue are expensed as incurred instead of deferred and recognized ratably. college football settlement expenses. during the second quarter of fiscal 2014, electronic arts recognized a $40 million charge for expected litigation settlement and license expenses related to our college football business. this expense is excluded from our non-gaap financial measures in order to provide comparability between periods. further, the company excluded this expense when evaluating its operating performance and the performance of its management team during this period and will continue to do so when it plans, forecasts and analyzes future periods. loss (gain) on strategic investments. from time to time, the company makes strategic investments. electronic arts’ management excludes the impact of any losses and gains on such investments when evaluating the company’s operating performance, when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods, and when assessing the performance of its management team. in addition, the company believes that excluding the impact of such losses and gains on these investments from its operating results is important to facilitate comparisons to prior periods. restructuring charges. although electronic arts has engaged in various restructuring activities in the past, each has been a discrete event based on a unique set of business objectives. each of these restructurings has been unlike its predecessors in terms of its operational implementation, business impact and scope. as such, the company believes it is appropriate to exclude restructuring charges from its non-gaap financial measures. stock-based compensation. when evaluating the performance of its individual business units, the company does not consider stock-based compensation charges. likewise, the company’s management teams exclude stock-based compensation expense from their short and long-term operating plans. in contrast, the company’s management teams are held accountable for cash-based compensation and such amounts are included in their operating plans. further, when considering the impact of equity award grants, electronic arts places a greater emphasis on overall shareholder dilution rather than the accounting charges associated with such grants. income tax adjustments. the company uses a fixed, long-term projected tax rate internally to evaluate its operating performance, to forecast, plan and analyze future periods, and to assess the performance of its management team. prior to april 1, 2013, a 28 percent tax rate was applied to its non-gaap financial results. based on a re-evaluation of its fixed, long-term projected tax rate, beginning in fiscal year 2014, the company has applied a tax rate of 25 percent to its non-gaap financial results. in the financial tables below, electronic arts has provided a reconciliation of the most comparable gaap financial measures to non-gaap financial measures used in this press release. forward-looking statements some statements set forth in this release, including the information relating to ea’s fiscal 2014 guidance information under the heading “business outlook,” 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 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 service and support digital product offerings, including managing online security; general economic conditions; and other factors described in the company’s quarterly report on form 10-q for the fiscal quarter ended september 30, 2013. these forward-looking statements are current as of january 28, 2014. 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, 2013. 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, 2013. about electronic arts electronic arts (nasdaq:ea) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. the company’s game franchises are offered as both packaged goods products and online services delivered through internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. ea has more than 300 million registered players in over 200 countries. in fiscal year 2013, ea posted gaap net revenue of $3.8 billion. headquartered in redwood city, california, ea is recognized for critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as the sims™, madden nfl, fifa soccer, need for speed™, battlefield™, and mass effect™. more information about ea is available at http://info.ea.com. battlefield 4, battlefield, the sims, need for speed, and mass effect are trademarks of electronic arts inc. and its subsidiaries. the simpsons tm & © 2012 twentieth century fox film corporation. all rights reserved. john madden, nfl, nhl and fifa are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. “playstation” is a registered trademark of sony computer entertainment inc. electronic arts inc. and subsidiaries three months endeddecember 31, nine months endeddecember 31, non-gaap results (in millions, except per share data) the following tables reconcile the company’s net loss and loss per share as presented in its unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations and prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“gaap”) to its non-gaap net income and non-gaap earnings per share. nine months endeddecember 31, december 31,2013 (a) derived from audited consolidated financial statements. three months endeddecember 31, change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) gaap net income (loss) % (as a % of gaap net revenue) %) )
