GameStop Up 8% as Cohen Buys 443k Shares

Chewy co-founder and activist investor Ryan Cohen bought an additional 443,842 shares in GameStop, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Less than a week after Cohen became GameStop’s executive chairman, the move propelled the retailer’s stock price by 8% over the last 24 hours.

Cohen Expands His Holdings in GME at an Average Price of $22.53 Per Share

Shares of GameStop advanced more than 8% Tuesday after activist investor Ryan Cohen acquired 443,842 of the retailer’s shares at an average price of $22.53 apiece, according to a filing with the SEC. The stock of the video game retailer was trading at $26.19 at the time of writing.

Cohen’s move comes just days after being appointed GameStop’s new executive chairman after firing the former CEO Matthew Furlong. The big management reorganization was announced as GameStop reported a notable revenue drop in the fiscal Q1, while its loss per share narrowed compared to the year-ago quarter. The company’s shares fell over 15% on Thursday following the announcements.

“We believe the combination of these efforts to stabilize and optimize our core business and achieve sustained profitability while also focusing on capital allocation under Mr. Cohen’s leadership will further unlock long-term value creation for our stockholders.”

– GameStop wrote in a filing.

More GameStop Directors Bought GME Shares

Cohen first acquired a stake in GameStop in 2020, and less than a year later, he won a seat on the retailer’s board after striking an agreement with the company’s management. While he’s best known as Chewy’s co-founder and former CEO, Cohen is also a prominent activist investor who attracted attention after he bought a notable stake in Bed Bath & Beyond and successfully advocated for changes in the company’s management and strategy through his investment firm, RC Ventures.

Meanwhile, two more GameStop executives increased their holdings in GameStop this week following the management shake-up. Notably, director Larry Cheng invested $111,900 for 5,000 GameStop shares at an average price of $22.38, followed by director Alan Attal, who bought 10,000 GameStop shares for $224,000 at an average price per share of $22.40.

Both Cheng and Attal are Cohen’s associates from his time at Chewy. Attal served as the COO of the online pet food retailer from 2011 to 2017 and as CMO from 2017 to 2018, while Cheng’s firm Volition Capital was the first investor in the company.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist