In advance of Electronic Arts' third quarter earnings (expected Jan. 31), Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey has said in his latest research note that the publisher could feel additional pressure on its shares thanks to "potential high profile product delays including Spore." Hickey said that he believes Spore will "likely" be moved from its March/April release period (the previous guidance EA provided) into the second half of calendar 2008.

Earlier this month at the Macworld Expo, EA announced that it would also be bringing the much anticipated "sim everything" game from Will Wright to the Mac. EA did not commit to any official launch date, simply stating that the PC version is coming later in 2008.

As for the third quarter, Hickey thinks that EA will report results in-line with its previous guidance, but he cautioned, "The current market environment can be particularly violent on high multiple stocks performing 'only' in-line with expectations and any conservative tone from management on future performance can be particularly damaging."

That said, he remains optimistic about EA's business. "We continue to believe the Company's shares offer a diversified play on video game software growth, where we remain considerably bullish. ... We anticipate...software sales could exceed 20% in CY08, and expect the Company's sales to participate in full," Hickey noted. "We expect the Company's legacy franchises to continue to perform well on current generation systems and remain optimistic over eventual new IP introductions, including Spore and Warhammer Online."

Games that probably drove third quarter sales include Need For Speed, FIFA, Sims, Simpsons, Madden, Tiger Woods, NBA Live, The Orange Box and Rock Band. Hickey forecasts that EA Partners (Rock Band, The Orange Box) contributed around $350 million in sales for the period, which would represent about 10 percent of their midpoint sales guidance.