Electronic Arts Stock Falls After Outlook

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Shares of video-game producer Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote) fell sharply Tuesday after the company issued a raft of news the previous day, including a narrow earnings miss, a profit warning, an acquisition, and another round of four-figure layoffs.

EA's shares were trading midday Tuesday at $18.24, down 6.6%, or $1.30, on volume of nearly 12.5 million shares. Average daily turnover in the Electronic Arts name is about 9 million shares. Since knocking against its 52-week highs of more than $23 in June, the stock has performed volatilely, mapping a chart that looks like a series of stalagmites.

The news out of Electronic Arts has been volatile as well. After Monday's closing bell, EA barely missed quarterly estimates and then tamped down expectations for its coming fiscal year.

For the just-ended period, EA said it posted adjusted earnings of $19 million, or 6 cents a share, which reflects deferred revenue booked during the quarter from packaged games sold sometime earlier. That compares to the 7 cents per share that analysts were expecting. Adjusted revenue came to $1.15 billion, up 2% from a year ago.

Excluding those deferred sales, EA was significantly in the red. It said it lost $391 million, or $1.21 a share, worse than the year-ago period's loss of $310 million, or 97 cents a share. Net sales, meanwhile, fell 12% to $788 million from a year ago.