The Wall Street Journal-20080213-Electronic Arts Sees Its Revenue Growing by Half

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Electronic Arts Sees Its Revenue Growing by Half

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Electronic Arts Inc., seeking to bolster investor enthusiasm after several years of lackluster financial performance, said it plans to exceed $6 billion in annual revenue in three years, a figure more than 50% higher than expected revenue for its current fiscal year.

Such an increase would restore solid growth at EA, maker of well- known videogame franchises such as Madden NFL football and the Sims. In recent years, EA has shown little in profits and revenue growth as it has struggled with high development costs, poor reviews and weak sales for some games.

At an event for Wall Street analysts, EA said a stronger pipeline of games will help it achieve the $6 billion revenue target for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.

Investors sent EA's shares up $2.50, or 5.4%, to $48.85 in Nasdaq Stock Market 4 p.m. composite trading.

For its current fiscal year, EA has said it expects revenue of between $3.88 billion and $3.95 billion.

The projections exclude the impact of an accounting change EA adopted to defer certain revenue associated with games that have online service features.