Opinions
David Burrows
Electronic Arts Inc
EA-Q
COMMENT
Feb 14, 2017
Stock price when the opinion was issued
You might be interested:
Premium contentPremium contentPremium contentPremium contentThis pick results from his looking at the application layer 12 months down the road. Model training algorithms are already being monetized in healthcare, education, and now sports/entertainment. Investor day last week saw a lot of AI tools. Yield is 0.5%.
12-month price target of $167.50. Buy 1/3 here around $141, $134, and $125.
Likes the portfolio, though a bit weak in mobile. Discretionary spend on some titles has been a bit lower. Over the long term, can grow 5-6%. 30% free cashflow margins, enough to buy back 5-6% of shares every year. In-game transactions are 99% gross margins. Yield is 0.6%.
(Analysts’ price target is $146.38)They have a lot of sports titles. They lost FIFA, but have their own soccer franchise, plus baseball and basketball. Sports are steady as opposed to companies depending on a few hit games. Ultimately, someone will buy them out, like Netflix or Amazon or Apple, who could pay twice the multiple.
He really likes the video game space. You make money if you find a company or industry that is perceived to be good to begin with, but where there is some change that has taken place that allows them to take their business to a whole different level. It used to be that you would buy a disc to upgrade a videogame. Now you download a game, and you are in the heat of a battle, and you pay extra for another weapon. Their ability to generate cash from their properties has gone markedly upward. So, the multiple you pay for that business should expand. Not only are earnings growing, but the multiple of earnings that people are willing to pay is growing.