EA’s play on the Fortnite business model | Calamatta Cuschieri

The European market closed lower on Friday with the European Stoxx 600 closing 0.54% off its opening. The biggest losers where the automakers, losing 2.19% for the day due to increased fears that the U.S – China relations will deteriorate. Donald Trump is also expected to sign an executive order effectively banning all China telecommunication equipment from the U.S. further adding to the strain on the relation between the two-superpowers. Expectations of short-term future global economic growth is on the decline according to the Bank of England further putting downward pressure on European stocks. On an individual basis Wirecard was the biggest loser following reports that police in Singapore raided their offices. 

The US was mixed on Friday as the Dow fell 64 points or 0.25% while the S&P 500 gained 1.83 points or 0.07%. EA was a strong gainer for the day as it jumped 16% following reports that its debut of its new game Apex Legends had a positive response from gamers. Goodyear reported weak results on Friday and lost 9% for the day putting it at the bottom of the S&P 500.

It was a negative day on the Maltese market as the MSE equity index retracted by 0.2% to close at 4,471.63. The losers for the day where Malta International Airport plc, HSBC Bank Malta plc, Tigné Mall plc and GlobalCapital plc as they retracted 0.8%, 1.1%, 2.1% and an eye-watering 22%. The gainers where Go plc gaining 0.9% while Trident Estates plc gained 3.1%.

EA play on battle-royal

On Thursday EA announced its new game, Apex Legends, had already reached one million in concurrent users and ten million total players in just 72 hours. Apex Legends surprised many as it was announced and unveiled on the same day. The game operates on a similar model to Fortnite in that it is a free to play, battle-royal type game that generates revenue from micro transactions on aesthetic items. Following this news the stock jumped 16%.

While the numbers are impressive it has a significant way to grow. In this billion dollar industry it is relatively easy to get players however maintaining growth and users is hard as most seem to constantly move to the newest game on the block.

Boeing Ariel refueling losses problem

Boeing released a statement on Friday that the aerial refueling program had reached forward losses of $2.31 billion and a pre-tax cost of $3.6 billion over the past 3 years. The costly program comes at the hands of delays and the constant fixes needed. The first plane, the KC-46, was delivered to the US air force only recently.

Boeing shares have surged in 2019 up 25.555 for the year however the latest news has put pressure on the stock as it closed in the red for the second consecutive day on Friday. Boeing has a history of outperforming the indices as it outperformed the S&P 500 both last year and the year before by 15.6% and 8.02% consecutively.

This article was issued by Aaron Saliba, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.