Electronic Arts (EA) seems to have a habit of beating the market. The market ended 2015 in the red but EA was up roughly 50% for the year. Even in 2016, EA is off to a decent start as the stock is down only about 2% which is impressive in the current selloff.

While many big-name tech stocks have lost considerable value this year, EA has managed to sustain its outperformance. EA’s past performance has been good, but investors are wondering if the stock can continue its long-term upward trajectory in 2016 amid the market correction. Given the current market sentiment, it is possible that EA may struggle at least in the short-term. However, I think the company’s long-term prospects look good. Investors who believe that the correction is over can start accumulating the stock at current levels.

UEFA European Championship will boost FIFA sales

The FIFA franchise is EA’s bread and butter as it accounts for almost 30% of the company’s revenue. The sales of FIFA have grown tremendously over the years and have been a huge driving factor for EA. However, as noted by an article on Forbes, FIFA sales are cyclical and tend to be higher when the launch coincides with a major international tournament like the FIFA World Cup or the UEFA EURO Cup.

Soccer may be the world’s most popular sport, but it is still growing. Hundreds of millions of viewers tune in to watch the international tournaments, and since it adds to the hype, sales ofFIFA and Konami’s PES increase. The Forbes article states that FIFA sales jumped 40% in 2012 due to the UEFA EURO only to fall 14% in 2013. Similarly, the unit sales of FIFA 2015eclipsed its predecessors by 27%, obviously due to the excitement of the FIFA World Cup, however the sales of FIFA 2016 have failed to beat its predecessor.

Given the cyclical nature of FIFA’s unit sales, I think investors can expect a big boost in sales this year due to the UEFA EURO 2016 in France. Most of the big teams have qualified for the tournament and the hype surrounding the tournament will be huge as always. This should boostFIFA sales, which is good for investors as the franchise accounts for a large portion of EA’s revenue.