I had the pleasure of hosting an investor call with Katie Burke, CFA, Director of Investor Relations at Electronic Arts (EA). I can tell you one thing that is very clear after our conversation – this company knows how to evolve.
“EA Sports – It’s in the Game”. I heard that a lot when my sons were growing up. The way games are played is different now, and it’s impressive. When Katie talked about how the company and their products have evolved over the last 20 years, I thought about how companies in other businesses couldn’t do the same. Think of Blockbuster Video. Electronic Arts figured it out, and they’re doing very well.
The Live Services portion of their business has grown tremendously and now accounts for roughly 75% of their revenue. In-game purchases give them the ability to extend the value delivered to players for every game title. “Massive online communities” play a significant role, giving their games more scale both in terms of the scope of the games themselves, and the number of players users can interact with – everything is bigger and better.
We talked about Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the industry. Katie pointed out that the first release of Madden NFL in 1983 had AI players on the field – they’ve gotten a little more sophisticated since then… AI is also helpful in game development, giving developers the ability to accomplish in weeks what used to take them months, or longer.
I asked Katie for 3 Key Takeaways from the call:
1. They’re focused on fundamentals – Investments/Returns
2. Execution is a priority
3. They’re making Strategic Investments in Future IP
Check them out here: https://ir.ea.com/home/default.aspx
We enjoy hosting investor calls like this, bringing investors and great companies like Electronic Arts (EA) together. “Thank You” to Katie and to the entire Electronic Arts (EA) team for your support!
Executive Team: Andrew Wilson, Stuart Canfield, Laura Miele, David Tinson, Mala S., Jake Schatz, Cam Weber, Matt Thomlinson, Jeff Karp, Marija Radulovic-Nastic, Vince Zampella, Eric Kelly, Paul Cairns, Mihir Vaidya
