GameStop shares fell more than 15% in premarket trading after the company reported a larger-than-expected decline in sales, just hours after a highly anticipated YouTube Livestream by popular retail investor “Roaring Kitty” was expected to send the stock soaring.
The video game retailer said Friday that net sales for the quarter ended May 4 fell to $881.8 million from $1.24 billion a year earlier, worse than Wall Street expected, with two analysts expecting sales of $900 million to $1.09 billion, according to FactSet.
GameStop’s net loss narrowed to $32.3 million in the fourth quarter from $50.5 million in the same period a year ago.
The company also announced plans to sell up to 75 million shares to raise more than $3 billion, just days after selling 45 million shares to raise nearly $933.4 million.
The company had been scheduled to report its financial results on June 11, but instead released its quarterly earnings on Friday morning, ahead of Gill’s live stream.
GameStop’s announcement did not include any comment or remarks from executives, and the company said it would not hold a conference call on Friday after releasing its earnings.
GameStop Corp. shares surged more than 47% after the close on Thursday as investors braced for the return of stock influencer Keith Gill to YouTube, whose recent social media posts have sparked a rally in so-called meme stocks.
Gill returned to social media platform X in mid-May after a three-year hiatus, sparking a rise in GameStop’s stock price.
The stock price soared again when the “Roaring Kitty” YouTube channel launched on Thursday, but the gains have since stalled. Upcoming live streams announced It’s scheduled for Friday at 12pm ET.
Gill was a key driving force behind the 2021 rally in GameStop and other so-called meme stocks driven by retail investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.
Shares of other meme stocks including AMC Entertainment, U.S.-listed shares of BlackBerry Inc. and Koss Corp. rose between 6.1% and 13% on Friday.
GameStop Corp. on Friday reported a decline in first-quarter net sales, released its quarterly report early and announced a more than $3 billion stock offering, sending the video game retailer’s shares down 15% before the close on Friday.
The company relies primarily on brick-and-mortar stores and has struggled as more customers turn to e-commerce companies to buy video games and collectibles.
With post wire
