Baird: Electronic Arts and Activision Top Picks In Gaming

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2015 is underway at Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, and most of the excitement this year at the event is focused around virtual reality.

Colin Sebastian, Baird senior analyst, was on CNBC live from E3 to discuss the competition brewing up in virtual reality among tech majors like Facebook Inc FB, Microsoft Corporation MSFT, and Sony Corp (ADR)SNE.

Sebastian also discussed his top picks in the gaming space which includes Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI and Electronic Arts Inc. EA

Virtual Reality

"This year at E3, virtual reality is at center stage, but we really don't expect the commercialization of virtual reality to began in earnest until next year," Sebastian said. "Now, the interesting thing is here at E3 we're seeing Facebook pit up against Microsoft and Sony for the first time in virtual reality and augmented reality and we're getting a first look at these products hands on in detail this week."

Related Link: E3 2015: Will EA, Activision Or Take-Two Impress Investors?

Console Gaming

On the growth in console gaming, Sebastian said, "Well there's a lot of excitement here at E3. Console gaming is alive and well and I think this being the red carpet event, we are seeing a lot of the holiday titles on display. I think we can also say that unlike most other forms of media and entertainment, more people are playing video games today than ever before and they're spending more money on video games. So, as we enter the sweet spot of console cycle, this part of the industry is certainly flourishing."

Top Picks

Sebastian was asked his top picks in the gaming space. He replied, "On Microsoft, I think, we have the new cloud focused and gaming is one of the success stories, I think it is important. But more specifically to the video game space, we like Electronic Arts and Activision, although perhaps the easy money has been made on those stocks. We do think there’s fuel left in the tank."