MW GameStop wants to buy back $2 billion of its own stock after an eBay-fueled selloff
By Bill Peters
The videogame retailer also says that collectibles helped drive a 14% sales gain in the first quarter
GameStop saw earnings rise in the latest quarter.
GameStop is looking to buy back some of its stock, which has been beaten down in the wake of a controversial bid for eBay.
The videogame retailer on Tuesday said its board of directors approved a $2 billion share-buyback plan that runs through June 2, 2029. That buyback replaces a prior authorization from March 2019, some two years before the company became the emblem of the meme-stock movement.
GameStop shares $(GME)$ jumped 7.6% after hours on Tuesday.
The chain made the announcement in its first-quarter earnings materials, which themselves came as a surprise, as the company hadn't announced the timing of them in any press release beforehand.
GameStop said first-quarter sales were up 14% year over year to $835.3 million, gains the company attributed to collectibles - an area the chain has banked on for more growth. The company earned 66 cents a share, up from 9 cents in the same quarter last year.
GameStop ended the quarter with $9.7 billion in cash, equivalents, and collateral pledged for a derivative asset. The company reported net income of $389.6 million.
The results arrived after GameStop last month made a $56 billion offer for eBay $(EBAY)$, which eBay rejected. Analysts said the bid - which would see GameStop acquire a company much bigger than itself - didn't exactly add up. But GameStop has continued to add to its position in eBay. As of last month, its stake in eBay was around 6.55%.
Shares of GameStop were trading at around $22 on Tuesday. They had been trading higher than that, in the neighborhood of $26, when reports of the eBay takeover plan first surfaced.
GameStop has struggled amid the rise of online gaming. Its CEO, Ryan Cohen, wants to grow the company's market cap to at least $100 billion. The Wall Street Journal has noted that he could make up to $35 billion in stock compensation if that target were reached.
Shares of GameStop are up 4.2% so far this year. The stock is well off the highs it reached in 2021, when the meme-stock frenzy reached its peak.
-Bill Peters
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June 02, 2026 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)
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