Activision Blizzard (ATVI – Snapshot Report) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA – Analyst Report) are two of the most widely recognized video game companies in the world. Last week, both companies were popular news topics, in that Activision Blizzard replaced Pall Corporation in the S&P 500 and EA’s popular Madden NFL series released their latest incarnation, Madden NFL 16, on August 25th.

In the spirit of Madden NFL 16, let’s place these two video game companies in a head-to-head competition to determine if Activision Blizzard or EA is the more worthwhile investment to add to your portfolio.

Zacks Rankings

Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts have the same Zacks Rank figure, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Both companies are in the Toys – Game – Hobby industry, an industry in the top 12% in the Zacks Industry Rank, and both share the top spot in their respective industry; Hasbro Inc. (HAS – Analyst Report) and Jakks Pacific (JAKK – Analyst Report) also share the top spot with ATVI and EA with Zacks Ranks #2 (Buy). 

In the Style Scores category, Activision Blizzard manages some separation from Electronic Arts. Activision Blizzard has a ‘C’ in Growth, a ‘C’ in Value, and a ‘B’ in Momentum, compared to Electron Arts’ ‘D’ grade in each of the Style Scores’ subsections.

The slightly higher Style Scores for Activision Blizzard propels them to victory in the battle of the Zacks Ranking. This is a marginal victory for Activision Blizzard over Electronic Arts because the two companies do share the same exact Zacks Rank, which is the primary figure for this category.

Earnings

Over the past 10 quarters, all but once did Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts fail to outperform the Zacks Consensus Estimates. Regarding their one occasions when the two companies did not outperform the earnings estimates, Activision pushed, reporting an EPS of $0.06 for the period ending in June of 2013, while Electronic Arts missed its estimated figure by 19.61%, reporting an EPS of $0.41 for the period ending in March of 2013.

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