The EA Conundrum.. An Earnings DUI (ERTS)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) is driving while intoxicated.  The company cannot find its footing and cannot find its way home.  In fact, things are getting to the point that many holders and traders are starting to hope that the price of the stock is low enough that the company will just get acquired.  The video game giant reported non-GAAP earnings of $0.33 EPS and $1.35 billion in revenue versus Thomson Reuters estimates of $0.31 EPS and $1.34 billion in revenues.   It is not this quarter that is a mess, even though it issued an earnings warning.

For the coming quarter, EA sees $0.02 to $0.06 in non-GAAP EPS on revenues of $800 million to $850 million.  Thomson Reuters is at $0.13 EPS and almost $851 million in revenues.

For fiscal-2011, EA sees revenues of $3.45 to $3.7 billion.  There it sees non-GAAP EPS of $0.50 to $0.70 in non-GAAP EPS.  Thomson Reuters has those figures at $0.74 EPS and $4.07 billion in revenues.

Many will argue that the company is sandbagging the forward guidance to keep estimates low enough that they can be hit.  The problem is that the numbers keep coming down from the company and from analysts.

We could look all through the data, but this is just a battleground now,  an ugly and bloody battleground.

Shareholders are pounding it lower for now as well.  The stock closed up 1.3% at $17.49 today, but is down at $16.20 in active after-hours trading.  The 52-week trading range is $14.75 to $23.76. Long gone are the highs over $60 back in 2005.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

JON C. OGG