Electronic Arts Tops Estimates

Net revenue, excluding the impact of the change in deferred revenue, is expected to be between $1.63 billion and $1.8 billion. Analysts were expecting net revenue of $1.61 billion and earnings of 94 cents a share.

For the fiscal year, EA expects net revenue, excluding the deferred revenue impact, of $3.8 billion to $4 billion. Analysts were expecting revenue of $3.76 billion.

Excluding charges, the company expects earnings between 85 cents and $1.15 a share. Analysts were expecting earnings of 94 cents a share.

EA's Madden NFL 08 game was its best seller during the second quarter and sold 4.5 million copies. The total number of Madden games sold were down from a year ago, but revenue remained stable because of higher pricing for the title this year, said EA. The NCAA Football game sold 1.7 million copies across four platforms while the Tiger Woods PGA Tour title sold 1.6 million copies.

EA generated $130 million in revenue, excluding deferred revenue, on games for the Nintendo systems. Revenue from its online products grew 58% from a year ago to $42 million.

Excluding deferrals, revenue from consoles such as Microsoft's(MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony's(SNE) PlayStation 3 grew 20% to $618 million.

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