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Electronic Arts (EA) full-year 2021 results show Live Services are over 70% of revenue

Electronic Arts (EA) has exceeded its earnings expectations, mainly due to its live service output.

Ozzie Mejia

May 11, 2021 1:40 PM

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Electronic Arts has reported financial results for its Q4 2020 and full 2021 fiscal year. Behind live services and a COVID-19 pandemic that kept players home with their video games, EA reported $6.19 billion USD in net bookings. That's a 15 percent growth year-over-year and $600 million above its original expectations. EA expects a slight growth for the first quarter ending June 30, 2021, propped up by continuing live services and the recent acquisition of Glu Mobile, and expects to end with a net revenue of $6.8 billion.

Here's some more from EA's Q4 2021 earnings release.

• FY 2021 full game sales were at $1.613 billion, down from $1.887 billion in 2020. This was offset by live service revenue being up to $4.016 billion, compared to $3.65 billion in 2020.
• FIFA 21, life to date, has more than 25 million players across PC and consoles
• FIFA Ultimate Team players have grown 16 percent year-over-year, while FIFA Ultimate Team matches were up 180 percent
• As noted in April, Apex Legends has passed 100 million players
• A "record number of new players" joined Madden NFL on PC and consoles during FY21, but an exact number was not given
• The Sims 4 has nearly 36 million players to date and has delivered a sixth consecutive year of growth
• Net cash provided by operating activities was $371 million for the quarter and $1.934 billion for FY21
• EA repurchased 2.4 million shares for $325 million during Q4 2020, bringing the total for FY21 to 5.6 million shares for $729 million
• EA paid a cash dividend of $0.17 per share during the quarter
• Net revenue for FY22 is projected to be $6.8 billion with change in deferred net revenue (online-enabled games) estimated to be roughly $500 million
• Net income for FY22 is expected to be approximately $390 million
• Diluted earnings per share in FY22 is expected to be approximately $1.34
• Operating cash flow in FY22 is expected to be approximately $1.750 billion
• The Company estimates a share count of 292 million for purposes of calculating FY22 diluted earnings per share

Electronic Arts Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Outlook

Our financial expectations for the first quarter ending June 30, 2021 and the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 include estimates of the impact of our recent acquisitions on consolidated results, including our acquisition of Glu Mobile on April 29, 2021. The GAAP and operating cash flow estimates could be materially impacted as we integrate these recent acquisitions.

Today's EA earnings report comes hours after the publisher announced that EA Play Live would return in July 2021. That is where both players and investors will get a first look at many of the publisher's FY22 products, including the latest EA Sports installments.

Shares of Electronic Arts (EA) dropped to $140.70, down 0.5 percent, during after-hours trading. The stock rose to $141.36, up 0.5 percent, during the regular Tuesday session.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?