Electronic Arts Shares Slide 3% As Outlook Falls Short

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc. were down 3% in premarket trade Friday, after the video game company offered a disappointing outlook for the second quarter. The company topped first-quarter profit and revenue estimates, but said it expects a net loss of $57 million and a loss per share of 18 cents for the second quarter, wider than the 6 cents forecast by FactSet. Analysts were generally positive on the numbers, despite the outlook. "Overall, we thought this was a good start for EA, showcasing the healthy underlying trends or digital, which also serves as positive read-through to other video game publishers such as Activision Blizzard and Take-Two --both are scheduled to report quarterly results next week," Stifel analysts wrote in a note. Electronic Arts shares have gained 49% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 11%.