EA Shares Soar on NPD Figures

Shares in EA have risen by more than seven per cent today following the release of the NPD figures for November which showed Battlefield 4 as the number two performing game for the month. 

The rise reverses a plunge of almost 7.5 per cent last week on news that development at DICE had been suspended until problems affecting Battlefield 4 are resolved. 

In its reports, analysts Seeking Alpha wrote: 

"NPD estimates U.S. physical retail video game sales fell 24% Y/Y in November, after having risen 12% in October and (thanks to the Grand Theft Auto V launch) 52% in September. The fact many gamers directed their discretionary income towards buying next-gen consoles may have played a role here.

"Electronic Arts (EA +7.2%) investors appear pleased Battlefield 4 came in at #2 on NPD's bestseller list, in spite of the well-publicized bugs and gameplay issues EA is scrambling to address. In addition, Madden NFL 25 is ranked #4 after falling out of the top-10 in October, and FIFA 14 is at #10."

Seeking Alpha's assessment falls in line with the views of Wedbush Securities Michael Pachter who said key titles had seen "far-weaker-than expected" launches because consumers were putting their money towards new consoles. 

Shares in Take Two rose two per cent while Activision saw a slight rise of 0.1 per cent. 

The surge in EA shares comes despite reports earlier today that analyst David Trainer believes investing in the publisher to be dangerous while also alleging that EA performed an "accounting trick" to convince investors of better-than-actual performance.