Gamestop shares slump following annual shareholder meeting
NEW YORK (AP) — Gamestop’s CEO Ryan Cohen said the struggling video game retailer will focus on cutting costs and long-term profitability in an annual shareholder meeting Monday.
Cohen added this would involve a “smaller network of stores” — suggesting that more store closures could be in sight. No further details of reductions were immediately provided.
“We are focused on building shareholder value over the long term,” Cohen said in short opening remarks at the top of the call. “We are not here to make promises or hype things up, we are here to work.
Shares for Gamestop were down more than 12% following Monday’s meeting.
Gamestop’s annual shareholder meeting was originally slated for Thursday — but was postponed after a technical issue resulted in many eager investors being unable to log on to the livestream. A spokesperson for Computershare, the company hosting the webcast, pointed to “unprecedented demand.”
That only appeared to fuel anticipation in what the Grapevine, Texas-based company’s leadership had to say. Scores of people took to social media over the weekend and early Monday to post about the upcoming meeting, adding to the buzz.
At the center of the meme stock craze, Gamestop saw a resurgence last month after Keith Gill, better known as “Roaring Kitty,” came back online for the first time in three years.
All eyes have been on whether Gamestop can make a comeback. Roaring Kitty returned to YouTube earlier this month, to tell his hordes of followers that he still believes GameStop’s management team can turn the struggling company around following a disappointing earnings report.
There’s a long way to go. Gamestop managed to narrow its losses in the first quarter, but its revenue fell as sales weakened for hardware and accessories, software and collectibles. Last week, GameStop also filed paperwork with securities regulators to sell up to 75 million shares of stock to raise proceeds of nearly $2.14 billion.