Electronic Arts seen posting 1st-quarter loss in slow time of year

Earnings Preview: EA to post 1Q results

NEW YORK — Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. reports its fiscal first-quarter results on Tuesday after the market closes.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The company is expected to post a loss for what’s been a slow quarter with few major game releases. But analysts expect the remainder of the year — for EA as well as for the rest of the video game sector — to be stronger. For an industry that brings in about 40 percent of its revenue during the holidays, the final three months of the year are key.

“Although EA’s (first-quarter) lineup was light, its game lineup for the remainder of the year is very strong,” wrote Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter in a note to investors. He rates EA’s shares “Outperform.”

Key EA games in the second half of the year, he added, include “Crysis 2,” ”Dead Space 2″ as well as “EA Sports Active 2.0,” and “The Sims 4,” among others.

WHY IT MATTERS: EA is one of the world’s largest video game publishers; its results are a bellwether for the industry. The company publishes some of the world’s best-known video games, including “The Sims” and the popular “Madden” football series, which reach a broad range of audiences.

WHAT’S EXPECTED: Analysts, on average, are expecting a loss of 35 cents per share on revenue of $502.3 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

LAST YEAR’S QUARTER: The Redwood City, Calif., company posted a net loss of $234 million, or 72 cents per share on revenue of $644 million. Excluding restructuring charges and other accounting adjustments, EA lost 2 cents per share.