EA maintains digital strength in Q2 as it gears up for Battlefield V, Anthem
Company reports $1.29 billion in net revenue for the quarter following launch of major EA Sports titles
Quiet as the late summer can be, EA once more used Q2 2018/19 to bust out its full roster of annual sports releases, resulting in steady growth for the publisher largely stemming from digital purchases.
EA reports total net revenue for Q2 of the 2018/19 fiscal year of $1.29 billion - a 34% year-over-year increase. Of that net revenue, $780 million was digital, while $506 million came from physical and other sources. 61% of net revenue came from digital sales. Generally, EA saw year-over-year growth in net revenue from both digital and physical sales due to the releases of its major EA Sports titles during the quarter: FIFA 19, Madden NFL 19, NBA Live 19, and NHL 19.
The company also reported $637 million in digital net bookings, a 10% year-over-year increase. That increase mostly came from console digital bookings, aided somewhat by mobile, though PC digital net bookings saw a 13$ decline.
Also for Q2, EA reported a gross profit of $868 million and operating income of $258 million.
"We're pleased with the performance of our business through the second quarter, and particularly with the strong digital net bookings," said EA COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen. "We continue to deliver strong digital revenues across multiple platforms, business models and geographic territories."
With the company above guidance for Q2, EA anticipates $1.375 billion in net revenue and $1.725 billion in net bookings during the third quarter with the release of Battlefield V.
A bit further out, Jorgensen noted during the company's earnings call that the plural phrasing of "games from Respawn that are slated to launch by next holiday season" in the company's prepared remarks was accurate, and that something other than the known Star Wars title would be announced sometime closer to release.
In addition, EA reported that its FIFA Mobile daily active users grew 50% year-over-year, and that The Sims 4 had seen almost 30 million downloads of its expansions alone.