Report: Investors shouldn't put faith in EA 'management's current guidance'
EA hasn't been the money-printing powerhouse it had been in previous years, and Cowen Research group blames the decisions of EA's top brass for that. Cowen Research revealed in its latest report (via GI.biz) that EA could still hit its expected revenue of USD 4.3 billion for the next financial year, but that the company would need to see growth in publishing revenue that outperforms overall industry figures by a considerable amount, despite the tough economic climate of today.
Digital distribution will also play a key role in EA's economic future, as the company has stated recently, and EA hopes to grow its business there by 100 percent over the course of the year. Cowen Research's report again sees this as a possibility for the company, yet points out there is considerable risk involved.
One also has the company's two big Wii games to consider: EA Sports Active and Boom Blox: Bash Party. EA expects each to sell 1.4 million and 350,000, respectively, but Cowen Research's report doesn't put much stock in third-party success on Wii. Cowen Research is hesitant to value third-party numbers where Rock Band and Guitar Hero figures are ignored, as the top five percent of third-party titles on Wii sold an average of 860,000 copies, compared to the more lucrative numbers of 1.2 million on the PS3 and 2.5 million on the Xbox 360. These games only accounted for 31.8 percent of total game sales on Wii, compared to 34.2 per cent on the PS3 and 41.2 per cent on the Xbox 360.
Cowen Research finally points out that a buyout could be in the cards, with the company's share price reaching historical lows.
