Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is still riding the Apex Legends wave, with shares up 4.6% in mid-day trade on Tuesday. The stock has gained since the company reported strong sign-up numbers over the past couple of days.
After its launch on February 4, Apex Legends gained over 10 million sign-ups in just three days and on Monday, Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment, developer of Apex Legends, said that the game had garnered over 25 million players in just a week’s time, with well over 2 million concurrent players at its peak during the weekend.
Although the game is free, these numbers indicate a rapid rise compared to the biggest performer of 2018, Fortnite. It took Fortnite weeks and months to get to the aforementioned numbers following its release.
The stock rallied 11% on Friday and then 6% in after-hours on Monday after the increases in gamer numbers were disclosed. Electronic Arts had suffered a setback on Tuesday after reporting third-quarter 2019 earnings that missed estimates and lowering its full-year 2019 revenue outlook. The stock had crashed over 16% following the results release.
Looking at the past one month, Electronic Arts’ stock has gained 12%. The company’s rival Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is set to report earnings results today after market close.