Electronic Arts (EA) saw sales fall by 13% year-over-year just after the company announced it was lined up to go private a month ago.
The gaming company attributes the drop in net sales to the strong sales for “College Football 25” at the same time last year.
Net revenue for the company reached US$1.84 billion for the quarter, which is a downgrade from the US$2.02 it reached in the second quarter of last year.
However, the company reported earnings per share of 54 cents, surpassing Wall Street expectations of 35 cents per share.
Alongside issuing its financial details, the company said it would forgo its usual quarterly Q&A call between analysts and EA leadership and would no longer be issuing financial guidance.
This choice is attributed to the gaming giants' pending US$55 billion deal to be taken private by Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
The buyout is expected to close by June 2026, which is the end of EA’s first fiscal quarter for 2027.
If the deal goes through, EA shareholders will receive US$210 per share in cash, representing a premium 25% as of the company’s closing share price on 25 September.
Following the acquisition, Andrew Wilson will remain CEO of the company.
The pending acquisition has sparked controversy with some prominent Sims 4 content creators announcing that they are walking away from the EA Creator Network and boycotting purchasing new content from the company.
