Electronic Arts Stock Plunges on Outlook Cut as Soccer Game Demand Slumps | Global News Avenue

Electronic Arts (EA) shares plunged in premarket trading Thursday, a day after falling demand for its EA SPORTS FC 25 video game prompted the company to cut its outlook.

In preliminary results released late Wednesday, the company forecast fiscal third-quarter net bookings of $2.22 billion. The company had forecast third-quarter net bookings of $2.4 billion to $2.55 billion, while analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected $2.44 billion.

EA also lowered its fiscal 2025 net bookings forecast to $7 billion to $7.15 billion from $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion.

EA SPORTS FC 25, Dragon Age’s poor performance

EA said its Global Football division, which features the EA SPORTS FC franchise, “experienced a slowdown as early momentum in the fiscal third quarter failed to sustain through the end.” The division has posted consecutive fiscal years with double-digit net sales. Bookings grow.

In addition, EA will announce its final third-quarter results on February 4, stating that its “Dragon Age” series “attracted approximately 1.5 million players this quarter, which was nearly 50% lower than the company’s expectations.”

As of Thursday, EA shares were up 3% in the past 12 months.