Analyst: EA on track to having No. 1 Facebook game

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. rose Tuesday after a Sterne Agee analyst said that the company's new Facebook game "The Sims Social" is "on track" to become the most popular game on Facebook.THE SPARK: Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia reiterated his "Buy" rating on shares of Electronic Arts saying that its recently launched "Sims Social" could surpass Zynga's "Cityville" as the No. 1 game on the social networking site.THE BIG PICTURE: Electronic Arts, which publishes video games such as "Madden NFL" and "Need for Speed," launched "The Sims Social" in August.Social networking games have mushroomed in popularity as people spend more time on sites such as Facebook. While the games are free to play, users can buy virtual items for game play. Also, some companies pay to have their branded items integrated in the games. For example, users of "The Sims Social" can currently gift another user a virtual Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee.Electronic Arts acquired social network game maker Playfish in late 2009 in order to strengthen its position in social gaming.Private company Zynga currently makes some of the most popular Facebook games such as "Cityville," "Farmville" and "Empires & Allies." Zynga is expected to go public sometime this year.THE ANALYSIS: Besides the success of "The Sims Social," Bhatia said a couple of upcoming games from Electronic Arts are promising. Bhatia said preorders of "Battlefield 3" have reached 1.5 million, and a test of the "Star Wars: The Old Republic" multiplayer online game "appears to be going really well."SHARE ACTION: Electronic Arts shares rose 63 cents, or 2.75 percent, to $23.50 in afternoon trading Tuesday. The stock is near its 52-week high of 25.05.