GameStop's Stock Plunges After Profit, Sales Warning

Shares of GameStop Corp. plunged 13% to a four-year low in active morning trade Wednesday, after the video game seller warned that fiscal third-quarter results would fall short of expectations, citing disappointing sales of new titles. The company said it now expects same-store sales for the quarter ended in October to be down 6.0% to 7.0% from a year ago, compared with the FactSet consensus of a 0.5% increase. GameStop expects revenue of $2.0 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $2.1 billion, and earnings per share of 45 cents to 49 cents, missing the FactSet consensus of 57 cents. For fiscal 2016, the company now expects EPS of $3.65 to $3.80 and a same-store sales decline of 6.5% to 9.5%, compared with FactSet's EPS consensus of $4.01 same-store sales estimate of a decline of 3.2%. "Our expectation was that the new titles released in October would provide a catalyst for new software sales, but despite gaining market share, the titles underperformed our forecasted sales," said Chief Executive Paul Raines. "While the Technology Brands and Collectibles segments continue to grow rapidly, they will not offset the decline in gaming this quarter." The stock has tumbled 27% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 3.2%.