Video-game retailer GameStop (GME) on Thursday disappointed investors with fiscal fourth-quarter sales and earnings that came in below Wall Street’s targets. GameStop also came up short with its 2014 earnings guidance. Plus, the company said it expects to close about 2% of its stores this year. GameStop stock was down 7.5%, near 36, in morning trading on the stock market today. GameStop earned $1.90 a share on sales of $3.68 billion for the
GameStop (GME) investors were spooked Tuesday by an announcement from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) that the discount retailer is entering the used video game market. Used games are a major profit center for GameStop and a business the specialty retailer has successfully defended before. GameStop stock was down nearly 4%, near 38, in afternoon trading on the stock market today, while Wal-Mart stock was up a fraction. Starting March 26, Wal-Mart customers will be able to trade in video games and apply the value toward the purchase of anything sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, both in stores and online. The traded-in games will be refurbished and resold by Wal-Mart “in like-new condition at a great low price,” the company said in a press release. “Gaming continues to be an important business for us and we’re actively taking aim at the $2 billion pre-owned video game opportunity,” Duncan Mac Naughton, chief…
Microsoft (MSFT) is counting on the new video game “Titanfall” to lift the prospects of its Xbox One device, which has fallen behind Sony ‘s (SNE) PlayStation 4 in the next-generation game console market. Released Tuesday, “Titanfall” is exclusive to Microsoft’ s (MSFT) hardware, including the Xbox One, older generation Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. Ask any clerk at GameStop (GME) about the title and he’ll likely say, “It’s the reason to own an Xbox One.” The $60 sci-fi shooting game, developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts (EA), has earned a composite score on Metacritic of 87, which falls into the range of “generally favorable reviews.” To boost sales of Xbox One, which launched on Nov. 22, Microsoft has been experimenting with price cuts and bundling promotions, as IBD reported. In the U.S., it bundled “Titanfall” at no additional charge with the Xbox One at its standard price of $499. Sony’s PS4 costs $399, a factor that has helped its sales.