GameStop shares tumble after CEO says store network will shrink
Adds analyst comment, company details, updates shares, paragraphs 4, 6-9
GameStop shares fall nearly 12% after CEO announces store reductions
CEO Ryan Cohen provides no details on $4 billion cash use
Stock influencer Keith Gill rekindled investor interest in GameStop last month
By Suzanne McGee, Priyanka G
June 17 (Reuters) -Shares of GameStop GME.N tumbled on Monday after CEO Ryan Cohen told investors that the videogame retailer plans to operate a smaller network of stores, but did not provide details on what it intends to do with its cash pile.
GameStop shares were down 11.6% at $25.38 on Monday afternoon after the annual general shareholder meeting, which lasted about 20 minutes.
Cohen said he anticipates the business will be operated with “a smaller network and more value-added" items as part of the company's attempt to boost sales and profitability.
He did not reveal how the company will use its roughly $4 billion in cash, which it built up following share sales in June and May, saying only that having a stronger balance sheet is "always an advantage."
Shares of the video game retailer have gyrated wildly over the last month since Keith Gill, the stock influencer known as Roaring Kitty who helped kick off meme-stock mania in 2021, reappeared and later disclosed a large position in GameStop.
Investors had been hoping that Cohen would reveal more details of a strategic plan to revitalize GameStop's business, analysts said.
Cohen's lack of detail on acquisition plans "is disappointing for at least some investors," said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities with a price target of $13.50 on the company.
Pachter noted that GameStop’s recently released filings showed a profit margin of about 36%, suggesting the company is doing well in reselling used software and hardware. On the other hand, competition remains intense in the market for gaming consoles while the second-hand market for used software is slowly drying up as gamers shift to digital downloads, he said.
The company has been grappling with slowing sales as its core business of selling new and pre-owned videogame discs takes a hit from consumers' move to downloading games digitally or streaming. Net sales fell to $881.8 million compared with $1.24 billion a year ago, the company said on June 7, when it reported earnings earlier than expected.
GameStop raised $933 million by selling shares to cash in on a meme stock rally last month, when the stock doubled in value, and raised an additional $2.14 billion earlier this month. Still, shares are down sharply from their May peak and down more than 70% from 2021 intraday highs.
Gill triggered the most recent wave of exuberance among retail investors after he disclosed ownership of 5 million GameStop shares and 120,000 June $20 strike call options in a screen shot posted on Reddit on June 2.
Gill updated his position last week to show he owned about 9 million shares and no options on the company.
Reporting by Suzanne McGee in Providence, Rhode Island, and Priyanka G in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; editing by Ira Iosebashvili, Megan Davies, Dave Gregorio and Matthew Lewis
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
