Bad news can sometimes be good news, as proven by the reaction to EA’s quarterly profit. Electronic Arts, the world’s largest publisher of video games, said today that its quarterly profit fell less than Wall Street expected as video game buyers held off on purchases in anticipation of the release of new gaming consoles. Shares of Electronic Arts rose 2% in after-hours trading.
Electronic Arts, whose recent high-profile releases included football titles Madden NFL 06 (GCN, PS2, Xbox) and NCAA Football 2006 (PS2/Xbox), said fiscal second-quarter net income declined to $51 million from $97 million in the year-earlier quarter ended September 30. Revenue fell 6 percent to $675 million. Analysts, on average, had seen the company posting revenue of $634.6 million.
