By Noel Randewich
(Reuters) – GameStop is set to report its quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, with a cult following of individual investors looking for progress in turning around the struggling videogame retailer following its recent share price surge.
GameStop’s volatile shares have risen over 80% in the past month, and they are now just 15% below their closing high in January. That was when a massive rally driven by investors on Reddit’s wallstreetbets trading forum made the stock the most traded on the U.S. market for several days.
A recent surge in AMC Entertainment Holdings has attracted increasing amounts of attention from individual investors and commenters on wallstreetbets, but GameStop remains one of the most discussed stocks on the forum.
AMC is up over 2,400% year to date, compared to a rise of over 1,400% in GameStop, which also holds a closed-door annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday ahead of its quarterly report after the bell.
Options prices imply GameStop’s stock could swing 24% in either direction by Friday, according to Trade Alert data.
(Graphics: GameStop stock price and turnover – https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/rlgpddxqxpo/Pasted%20image%201623177915806.png)
While the recent rollout of new videogame consoles is likely to benefit GameStop, analysts warn that its soaring stock price has become disconnected from the company’s day-to-day business. At least two Wall Street analysts recently dropped coverage of the company.
GameStop’s core business of selling new and pre-owned videogame disks is shrinking as consumers move to downloading games digitally or streaming, and it has lost money for the past three years. Top shareholder Ryan Cohen, the billionaire co-founder of online pet supplies retailer Chewy, hopes to transition GameStop into an ecommerce business that can take on big-box retailers.
“The bullish views of retail investors and GameStop’s long-awaited transformation strategy continue to overshadow actual results,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter warned in a preview note.
GameStop short sellers currently have $3 billion at stake, up from $1.3 billion at the end of 2020, according to S3 Partners, a financial data firm.
The company has yet to announce a replacement for Chief Executive George Sherman, who it has said will step down by July 31.
Analysts on average expect revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter ending in April, up 14% from the year before, when the coronavirus economic lockdown crippled sales of brick and mortar stores. Analysts expect an adjusted quarterly loss of 84 cents per share.
The company on April 5 said its global sales rose 11% in the first nine weeks of its fiscal year.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
