Love it or hate it, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) has brought out some amazing games over the years, including plenty of games that people were less than fond of. And with the performance of “FC 2024” buoying it, EA is making a real splash in the field. Sufficient splash, in fact, to send its share price up over 2% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
Word from research firm M Science is that EA’s new “FC 2024” game is doing extremely well. How well? Well enough for M Science to bump up its second quarter estimates on EA’s sales, all thanks to that one title. Even though “FC 2024” released in the last week of September, it still performed sufficiently well to offset quite a bit of potential losses. While EA hasn’t been having it all its own way—a quick look at the performance of “Apex Legends” will bear that much out—M Science notes that those “ongoing headwinds” will likely be helped substantially by “FC 2024” as well as any kind of normalization in bookings for EA’s long-time favorite “The Sims” franchise.
In fact, EA is drawing attention from one unlikely quarter: Disney (NYSE:DIS). Struck by ongoing difficulties with its film and television line, as well as its theme parks, Disney is looking for new revenue. Some of Disney’s board, therefore, is looking into buying EA outright and putting a lot more force into gaming. Disney games are nothing new, certainly, but it’s been comparatively mild for the last several years, if not decades. Disney buying EA might be the way to get Disney properties back into the gaming mainstream, if done right.
Is EA Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on EA stock based on nine Buys and five Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average EA price target of $146.07 per share implies 10.37% upside potential.
