Pachter: No confidence in EA hitting $6 billion pledge

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter's just issued a withering note on EA's Q4 sales warning, saying his firm now no longer has faith in the publisher reaching its revenue target of $6 billion in fiscal 2011.

"With the stock hovering near a seven-year low, management continued its recent history of disappointment," said the analyst.

"We are no longer confident that EA is taking the steps necessary to achieve its FY:11 goals of $6 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in operating profit."

EA said last night that its holiday sales had failed to meet expectation, and that further cost-cutting will continue into next year.

Pachter's now dropped his rating on EA to "buy" from "strong buy".

Lazard Capital's Colin Sebastian has chorused Pachter's discontent with EA today, saying the firm's cost-cutting measures don't go far enough.

"Time will tell whether these steps will effect better market performance, but we believe more aggressive restructuring is appropriate given that EA has yet to demonstrate meaningful franchise growth or operating efficiencies midway through the current console cycle," he said in an investor note.