Piper Previews E3: Conference Is Potential Catalyst For Gaming Group, Electronic Arts Likely Frontrunner

Piper Jaffray's Michael Olson analyzed the gaming sector before the popular E3 conference, an event scheduled to showcase video gaming companies on June 12. The gaming group — including Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) — has outperformed the market following E3 conferences over the past three years, according to Olson.

Expectations For This Year

The analyst believes Activision and Take-Two Interactive would take a backseat to EA, which will be showcasing its highly anticipated games "Battlefield 1" and "Titanfall 2," "along with a potential announcement of a completely new IP that will likely ship in FY18."

Related Link: Pacific Crest Previews E3: "Activision Continues To Be Our Best Idea"

"Gamestop could also benefit from discussion around new hardware (Sony's PS4.5, & Virtual Reality, and Nintendo's NX), given hardware purchases tend to drive gamers into retail stores," said Olson. As for Activision and Take-Two, the Piper Jaffray analyst thinks the companies would not have any material new tittle announcements.

At Time Of Writing...

• Activision was down 0.73 percent at $37.85.
• Electronic Arts was down 1.06 percent at $76.43.
• GameStop was down 0.91 percent at $28.20.
• Take-Two Interactive was down 1.88 percent at $39.12.