From the Desk Of Irwin Michael – May 20, 2016

One of the ABC Funds’ favoured holdings is Electronic Arts (EA), a developer, publisher, and distributor of interactive entertainment. Our original thesis for adding the company to the ABC Funds was that EA would benefit from rising demand in video game software due to its high quality franchises. Moreover, the media space is going through a transformational shift with themes of cord-cutting and on-demand entertainment. EA is different as it is a special situations media company, shielded from these events and, interestingly, it is trading at an attractive valuation. On May 10th, EA reported Q2/16 revenue of $924 million and adjusted EPS of $0.50, well above analyst expectations of $888 million revenue and adjusted EPS of $0.42, respectively. Important drivers have been EA’s shift to digital revenue, the expansion of its popular brands such as EA Sports, and its lucrative deal with Disney to produce Star Wars franchise video games. In summation, we believe that Q2/16 is an attestation of EA’s impressive fundamentals and strong business model.

Irwin A. Michael, President
I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.