EA Beats Expectations, Raises Outlook Ahead Of 'Star Wars Battlefront' Release

Electronic Arts Inc. beat expectations with its second-quarter earnings report and raised its full-year outlook based on optimism for the new "Star Wars Battlefront" video game Thursday. EA reported a loss of $140 million, or 45 cents a share, on sales of $815 million; after adjustments, the video game publisher claimed profit of 65 cents a share on sales of $1.15 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share on sales of $1.1 billion. EA also added $50 million to its forecast for full-year revenue, pushing that guidance to $4.5 billion, and increased its adjusted profit forecast to $3 a share, up 15 cents. Chief Executive Andrew Wilson credited the change to the coming "Star Wars" game, which will be released in less than three weeks and is expected to be a big seller for the holiday season, which will also see the release of a new "Star Wars" movie. EA shares initially gained 3% in late trading, but fell back later in the after-hours session after closing with a 0.9% loss.