Electronic Arts EA reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings of $1.59 per share, increasing 3.2% year over year but missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.25 by 29.3%.
Revenues increased 12% year over year to $2.12 billion and beat the consensus mark of $2.00 billion.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, EA’s net bookings were $1.86 billion, up 3.6% year over year. Management highlighted Battlefield 6’s record fiscal-year performance and noted Apex Legends delivered its strongest net bookings in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, alongside growth across Global Football properties.
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Electronic Arts Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Electronic Arts Inc. Quote
Q4 Details of EA
EA’s full-game revenues (28.7% of total revenues) increased 39.4% year over year to $609 million. Full-game download revenues rose 43.9% year over year to $528 million. Packaged goods increased 15.7% year over year to $81 million.
Electronic Arts Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Electronic Arts Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Electronic Arts Inc. Quote
Live services and other revenues (71.3% of total revenues) increased 3.6% year over year to $1.51 billion.
By platform, console revenues increased 9.4% year over year to $1.29 billion. PC & Other revenues jumped 30.3% to $555 million (from $426 million). Mobile revenues declined 5.2% to $272 million.
EA Expands Profit Despite Higher Operating Costs
EA’s cost discipline showed up in margins even as spending increased. GAAP gross profit increased 15% year over year to $1.76 billion. Gross margin expanded 220 basis points on a year-over-year basis to 82.8%.
Operating expenses increased 5.3% year over year to $1.19 billion. As a percentage of revenues, operating expenses contracted from 59.7% in the year-ago quarter to 56.2%. Research and development climbed to $732 million, while marketing and sales rose to $254 million.
Even with these increases, operating income on a GAAP basis improved to $564 million, increased 42.8% year over year, lifting the operating margin to 26.6%.
Electronic Arts' Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of March 31, 2026, EA had $2.98 billion in cash and short-term investments compared with $2.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $580 million for the quarter and $2.55 billion for the trailing 12 months. Likewise, free cash flow was $519 million for the quarter and $2.32 billion for the trailing 12 months.
Deferred net revenues tied to online-enabled games rose to $2.23 billion, reflecting the company’s ongoing exposure to live services and digitally delivered content recognition timing.
EA declared a quarterly cash dividend of 19 cents per share, payable June 17, 2026, to shareholders of record as of May 27.
Electronic Arts’ Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
EA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
American Public Education APEI, Fox FOX and Hasbro HAS are some better-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader Consumer Discretionary sector.
American Public Education sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, while Fox and Hasbro carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
American Public Education is slated to announce first-quarter 2026 results on May 11. Meanwhile, Fox will report on May 11, while Hasbro is scheduled to release results on May 20.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).