The shambling corpse of the once-mighty video game retailer GameStop lumbers on, despite its greatest efforts to break into a sprint.
Following its recent sales defect, and global downturns in video game sales revenue, the company’s stock has plummeted to a mere five dollars a share – a decline of just about 36% since yesterday. Gamestop’s overall sales in Q1 2019 were 13.3% lower than the same time last year, and the news only gets worse:
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New hardware sales decreased 35.0%, with an increase in Nintendo Switch sales more than offset by a decline in Xbox One and PlayStation 4 console sales.
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New software sales decreased 4.3%, driven by weaker new title launches in the quarter compared to last year.
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Accessories sales increased 0.6% on the continued strength of controller sales.
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Pre-owned sales declined 20.3% reflecting declines in hardware and software.
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Digital receipts decreased 6.7% to $255.4 million, driven by weaker title launches in the quarter compared to last year.
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Collectibles sales increased 10.5% to $157.3 million, with continued growth in both domestic and international stores.
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GameStop’s first quarter GAAP net income was $6.8 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to net income of $28.2 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter, which included the Spring Mobile business.
Much of this downward trend can be attributed to the end of the current generation of consoles fast approaching. This is making buying a new console and games for said console pretty redundant at this point in time, especially with E3 fast approaching. If GameStop can crawl along for just a few more months, it may be temporarily revived by an influx of console hype.
But the downloads keep climbing. With Google Stadia now well in sight, it could only be a matter of time before the Xbox One S is no longer the only disc-less console out there. GameStop can survive until the next generation starts fuelling revenue, but it’ll have to start adapting if it hopes to survive in the long-term.
Arana blames her stunted social skills and her general uselessness on a lifetime of video games. Between her ears is a comprehensive Team Fortress 2 encyclopedia. Her brain remains at large.
