GameStop’s big day as shares sit with 1,492% annual gain
GameStop's largest shareholder is Chewy.com founder Ryan Cohen
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With GameStop shares up over 1,492% this year alone, investors are in-line for a busy day.
The video game retailer is set to hold its annual shareholder meeting and will also release its first quarter earnings for 2021 after the bell on Wednesday.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GME | GAMESTOP CORP. | 11.21 | +0.28 | +2.56% |
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The shareholder meeting is expected to take place at 11:00 am EDT with CEO George Sherman attending the meeting in person while the rest of the board of directors will attend virtually.
GameStop announced that Chewy.com founder Ryan Cohen – who joined the company's board in January amid a massive, Reddit investor-fueled short squeeze that has sent its shares soaring over 1,492% this year – will become chairman following the shareholder meeting.
Cohen's investment firm, RC Ventures, has amassed an approximately 13% stake in GameStop , with the goal of transforming the company into a major e-commerce player that sells a wide variety of merchandise with fast shipping.
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Cohen has cleaned house during his time with GameStop, with Sherman, GameStop chief financial officer Jim Bell and chief customer officer Frank Hamlin all announcing they would step aside from their positions. Board members including Nintendo executive Reginald Fils-Aimé, former Activision Publishing president Kathy Vrabeck and Hestia Capital founder and chief investment officer Kurtis J. Wolf also announced departure plans.
Cohen has been beefing up the incoming GameStop leadership team with executives whose primary focus has been in the e-commerce space, including Amazon veterans Elliott Wilke, Jenna Owens and Matt Francis, who will serve as GameStop's chief growth officer, operating officer and first chief technology officer, respectively.
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Following the shareholder meeting, GameStop will release its first-quarter earnings results for 2021 after the bell Wednesday.
In April, the company reported preliminary year-over-year global sales growth of approximately 11% for the first nine weeks of 2021. Sales increased approximately 5.3% year-over-year for the four week period ending February 27 and roughly 18% year-over-year for the five week period ending April 2.
The company noted that ongoing government mandated restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic limited operations, primarily in Europe, during the quarter. GameStop says it operated with an approximately 13% decrease in the store base due to its "strategic store optimization efforts."
Zacks Research forecasts GameStop's first quarter revenues will increase 14.6% year-over-year to $1.17 million, with an estimated loss of 56 cents per share. GameStop executives will hold the company's quarterly earnings call at 5 p.m. to discuss the results.