The consumer shift from packaged video game sales to digital downloads is putting the hurt on specialty retailer GameStop (GME). GameStop shares were down 15% to below 38 in afternoon trading on the stock market today. The tumble followed a report late Thursday by the NPD Group on October retail sales of video games in the U.S. The NPD report showed that game software sales at retail fell 3% year over year last month to $338 million, despite the
Video game retailerGameStop (GME) is moving quickly to diversify into the pop-culture collectibles market as concerns swirl that the shift to digital game sales will harm its core business. Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop on Tuesday announced plans to buy Geeknet (GKNT), the parent of ThinkGeek, which sells fun merchandise related to technology, video games and science-fiction and fantasy movies and TV shows. GameStop has agreed to pay $20 a share in cash for Geeknet in a deal valued at $140 million. Last month, Geeknet accepted a $122 million purchase offer from retailer Hot Topic. But GameStop stepped in with a richer bid. Geeknet will pay Hot Topic an undisclosed termination fee, for which GameStop has agreed to reimburse Geeknet. “The addition of Geeknet is an important expansion of our global multichannel platform, and we are excited to leverage their product development expertise to broaden our…
Video game retailer GameStop (GME) crushed Wall Street’s Q1 estimates and ripped out its still-beating heart in triumph late Thursday, thanks to hit titles like ultra-violent fighting game “Mortal Kombat X.” GameStop stock jumped 6% to 43 in morning trading on the stock market today. The Grapevine, Texas-based retailer earned 68 cents a share, up 15% year over year, on sales of $2.06 billion, up 3%, for the quarter ended May 2. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected GameStop to earn 59 cents a share on sales of $2.01 billion. Same-store sales rose 8.6% in fiscal Q1, compared with 5.8% in the year-earlier period. GameStop said its software sales were helped by hot games like “Mortal Kombat X” from Time Warner ‘s (TWX) Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and “Battlefield Hardline” from Electronic Arts (EA). For the current quarter, GameStop expects to earn 23 cents a share,…