EA, Take-Two are the 'adults' in the video game room: Bernstein
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Bernstein analyst Matti Littunen on Friday initiated his coverage of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) with outperform ratings saying that the two video game publishers are the standouts in an industry worth $180 billion

Littunen also set price targets of $157 a share on EA (EA), and $173 a share on Take-Two (TTWO), in part because that when taking their short-term outlooks into consideration, both companies' shares "look attractively priced" compared to levels prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"EA (EA) and Take-Two (TTWO) are the adults in the game room," Littunen said. "[They have] learned from past mistakes and built mature businesses without losing the potential for growth."
Littunen called the video game industry "the best structural growth opportunity in media." With regards to EA (EA), Littunen said the company is seeing growth from its Sims and sci-fi games franchises that has helped balance its core sports games that, aside from mobile platforms, are showing signs of maturing.
Equally as important is what Littunen called EA (EA) efforts to improve a public perception that has pegged the company as nickel-and-diming its customers at every turn.
Littunen said EA's (EA) reputation as the "corporate pariah" of video games "is now less deserved after improved product exection and listening to players on monetization" within their games.
Littunen said Take-Two (TTWO) gets high marks for knowing "how to do the tricky double act of keeping gamers happy and getting investors paid." The company is also in the process of acquiring mobile gaming company Zynga for almost $13 billion. Littunen said that while the growth goals for Zynga appear steep, "the acquisition was well-timed and structured."
EA (EA) is currently scheduled to report quarterly results on May 10, while Take-Two (TTWO) is slated to give its next quarterly report on May 16.
In addition to Take-Two (TTWO) buying Zynga, the videogame market was shaken up earlier this year with Microsoft (MSFT) saying it would acquire Activision Blizzard (ATVI) for nearly $70 billion. On Thursday, Activision (ATVI) named two new female members to its company board of directors.