EA Beats on Both Lines

In December, the average revenue per user was over $10, up from roughly $6 in the month of September, he said.

On the mobile games side, EA saw revenue rise to $35 million. In the coming fiscal year, mobile revenue will likely pass through $175 million, said Jenson.

Revenue in North America was up 3% to $637 million; in Europe, up 1% to $583 million; and in Asia, down 19% to $61 million.

To strengthen its performance in Asia, EA said it plans to launch online game versions of its popular sport franchises including FIFA and NBA Street in China and Japan this year.

For the fiscal fourth quarter, EA said it expects net revenue to be between $550 million and $600 million, much lower than analysts' expectations for revenue of $644.4 million.

Excluding items, EPS is expected to be between roughly break-even and 3 cents, in line with the analyst forecast of 2 cents a share.

For calendar 2007, EA expects overall North America and Europe console handheld and PC software sales to increase 13% to 18% and mobile software sales to increase 20% to 25%.

EA also said that starting in fiscal 2008, it will begin recognizing revenue associated with certain online-enabled packaged-goods games over the estimated hosting service period.

As a result, the company anticipates that a significant amount of net revenue that otherwise would have been recognized in fiscal 2008 will be recognized in fiscal 2009.

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