GameStop’s stock rises as earnings near, on pace for two-day winning streak

Shares of GameStop Corp. rose 4.1% Monday ahead of the company’s third-quarter results scheduled for later this week. The stock is on pace for a two-day winning streak.

GameStop
GME,
-4.95%
is set to report third-quarter results after the closing bell Wednesday. The videogame retailer’s stock has enjoyed a meme-like rally recently after the company announced the date for its third-quarter earnings report. Last week, the stock had its best two-day gain in eight months and ended Friday’s session up 5.2%.

Shares of GameStop are down 13.8% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500 index’s
SPX
gain of 18.5%.

Related: GameStop’s meme-like stock rally continues as earnings draw near

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect GameStop to report a third-quarter adjusted loss of 8 cents a share, after a loss of 31 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. The videogame retailer is expected to report fiscal-third-quarter revenue of $1.182 billion, down slightly from $1.186 billion in the same period last year, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

GameStop beat expectations when it reported second-quarter results in early September, boosted by international sales and what the company described as “a significant software release.” The videogame retailer is also ramping up its efforts to control costs.

The company has seen major leadership changes this year. GameStop fired CEO Matthew Furlong in June and said that its board had elected activist investor Ryan Cohen as its executive chair. Cohen was named CEO in late September, the latest chapter in his attempt to breathe new life into the company.

Related: GameStop stock’s massive rally driven by fresh wave of speculative bets

But even with Cohen at the helm, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects to see a “continuing decline in physical game sales and store traffic” at GameStop, he told MarketWatch in September.

In August 2020, news of Cohen’s 9% stake in the gaming retailer sent its stock surging. The activist investor quickly began pushing for an overhaul of GameStop with a focus on digital sales, and he joined the company’s board in January 2021. He consolidated his power at GameStop when he became company chair in June 2021.

From the archives (September 2023): GameStop’s stock jumps after results top estimates, helped by international gains

Cohen made one of his occasional forays into social media late Sunday, tweeting a quote from former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on the subject of pigeons.  

Cohen’s pronouncements on social media always grab attention, and his Tyson quote has garnered more than 312,000 views on Twitter, now known as X.

GameStop has not yet responded to a request for comment on this story.

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