Electronic Arts (ERTS) Q2-09 September 2008 Earnings Call Notes
-Revenue $1.126B vs. $1.08B est. EPS -6c vs. -6c est. Guidance for FY2009 $5-5.3B vs. $5.04B est. EPS $1.20 vs. $1.42 est. (15% miss)
-6% layoff of workforce
-$6.47 net cash per share
-Seeing slowdown in retail during October, so they are cautious on the short-term
-Madden 09 sold 4.5M (flat y/y), NCAA 1.5M (up 5%), PGA Tour 1.5M, NHL 09 (up 85%), Fifa 09 (up 30% first few weeks), Spore 2M in 3 weeks
-Harry Potter moved to FY2010 due to movie delay (13c). Recent weeks big move in FX reduces EPS 12c. Continued weakness in catalog sales and macro issues in October forces them to reduce guidance by 30c total
-In October, consumer and retailers are being more cautious
-800K (250K in North America, 70% conversion) on Warhammer Online
-Better: Fifa, Rockband Worse: catalog
-17% of sales were catalog vs. 19% last year