Topic: How To Invest

Pat: What is your view on Electronic Arts as a stock investment? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Electronic Arts Inc., $23.75, symbol ERTS on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 331.0 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; www.ea.com), makes video games for a wide variety of devices, including computers, video-game consoles (such as the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii) and mobile devices (including Apple’s iPhone and iPad). The company sells a number of sports-based titles that it reissues annually. It has licensing deals with most major professional sports organizations, including the National Football League, FIFA (soccer), Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Electronic Arts also develops its own game franchises. It constantly releases sequels and new versions that give it ongoing revenue. Top-selling examples include The Sims (a life-simulation game), Need for Speed (a car-racing game) and Battlefield (a war game). As well, the company makes games based on popular movie and literary characters, such as Harry Potter. Electronic Arts’ games sell strongly around the world. It now gets around 50% of its sales from outside North…