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Electronic Arts (EA) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Electronic Arts (EA - Free Report) closed at $98.68 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.15% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.01%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.14%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.19%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the video game maker had gained 3.47% over the past month. This has outpaced the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 3.23% and lagged the S&P 500's gain of 3.61% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from EA as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.85, down 13.27% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.24 billion, up 1.78% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.62 per share and revenue of $5.17 billion, which would represent changes of -1.49% and +3.62%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for EA. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. EA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, EA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 21.33. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.59.

Investors should also note that EA has a PEG ratio of 1.79 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Toys - Games - Hobbies was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.96 at yesterday's closing price.

The Toys - Games - Hobbies industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, putting it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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