EA Good Enough, on non-GAAP Basis (ERTS)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2010, and shares are holding their own. Non-GAAP net revenue was $816 million, a gain of 34% from a year ago, and better than Thomson Reuters estimates of $729.5 million. EA’s non-GAAP loss was $6 million or -$0.02  EPS, down from -$0.42 a year ago.  Thomson Reuters estimates were for -$0.13 EPS.

Net GAAP revenue for the quarter was $644 million, down from $804 million a year ago.  EA had a net quarterly revenue deferral of $172 million related to certain online-enabled packaged goods games and digital content. GAAP net loss for the quarter, including the impact of deferred revenue, was $234 million as compared with a net loss of $95 million for the prior year. GAAP diluted loss per share was $0.72 as compared with GAAP diluted loss per share of $0.30 for the prior year.

EA said it ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $1.8 billion.

For its Fiscal-2010 guidance, it sees non-GAAP net revenue of approximately $4.3 billion, which it says is consistent with prior guidance and compares to $4.28 billion as the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate.  Its non-GAAP earnings are expected to be $1.00 EPS, which is again what the company said is consistent with prior guidance and compares to a Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.97 EPS.

Be advised that the GAAP numbers here are significantly different than the non-GAAP reports.  EA shares closed up 1.6% at $21.89 on the day, and shares are up almost 4% at $22.75 in the after-hours indications.  Its 52-week trading range is $14.24 to $50.17.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 4, 2009