Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) shares rose around 8% on Wednesday following the company’s reported Q4 results, with EPS of $0.80 coming in worse than the consensus estimate of $1.44.
Net bookings were $1.75 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Total net bookings grew 18% year-over-year driven by 43% growth in full game sales and 14% growth in live services. Net bookings from Mobile platforms were up 66% year-over-year due to acquired mobile studios. Live services net bookings were 88% of total digital in Q4/22, down from 89% in Q4/21.
Looking ahead, management points to higher taxes and higher costs associated with initial mobile game launches in the 2023 outlook, which explains why profit guidance fell below consensus. Overall, the 2023 launch slate is relatively lean and without contribution from Battlefield Mobile.
Analysts at Oppenheimer continue to expect net bookings/earnings growth to accelerate in the 24 months, but with more conservative margin assumptions due to the unfavorable near-term macro setup. The analysts lowered their price target on the company’s shares to $160 from $170, while maintaining outperform rating.