Electronic Arts Inc.(ERTS) recorded the highest first week retail sales figures from its recently launched Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Master of the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR franchise, in its 14-year history.
Management estimates that EA sold approximately 225,000 units of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters during the first week of its release in North America, surpassing the previous record sales set by the same franchise (Tiger Woods PGA 08 released in 2007) by 17%. Additionally, the first week’s console digital revenue related to the franchise soared 200% from the comparable year-ago period.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 was also the top-selling game app on iTunes on the day of its launch and throughout the first week, despite the fact that the version of the game for iPad and iPhone did not include a couple of features.
The game has been well received by both critics and fans, who praised it for the enhanced game play. Detailing of the golf courses, especially Augusta National Golf Club added to the success of the game. The thorough detailing and realism of the courses was possible due to the latest laser scanning technology used by EA that imitated the course to within six millimeters.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters has achieved several milestones, since its launch on March 29, 2011. These include the number of games (more than 7 million) that have been played on all courses and 2,515 PGA TOUR seasons that have been played on consoles in online tournaments. Additionally, there were over 184 million golf shots taken, 1.5 million achievements and trophies were unlocked with 12 million course mastery objectives completed.
The game is available in stores at a retail price of $ 59.99 on Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Xbox 360 and for $ 69.99 on Sony Corp.’s (SNE) PlayStation 3. The game is also available on Nintendo’s Wii for $ 49.99. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 is available in Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPad for $ 6.99 and $ 9.99, respectively.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12 is also available in a free version for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Electronic Arts remains focused on delivering quality titles, which we believe will drive significant top-line growth going forward. The company’s impressive product pipeline guarantees market share gains over the long term.
Electronic Arts expects to release 37 new titles for fiscal year 2011, with 10 titles scheduled for the final quarter.
The sales figure will likely boost investor confidence and provide some assurance regarding Electronic Arts’ product depth and the timeliness of its product releases.
However, weakness in the overall packaged-goods sector, coupled with intense competition from Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), keep us concerned about the company. Thus, we maintain a Neutral rating on Electronic Arts on a long-term basis (6 to12 months).
Currently we have a Zacks #3 Rank for Electronic Arts, which implies a Hold rating on a short-term basis.
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