Electronic Arts swings to net quarterly profit

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Electronic Arts Inc. on Tuesday reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $96 million, or 29 cents a share, on total revenue of $815 million. However, excluding certain items EA reported a loss of $78 million, or 24 cents a share, on $539 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $6 million, or 2 cents a share, on $816 million in sales in the year-ago period. By that measure, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast EA to lose 35 cents a share on $502.3 million in revenue. For its second-quarter, EA forecast a loss of 10 cents to 15 cents a share on $775 million to $825 million in revenue, excluding certain items.