GameStop Earnings Take It to the Next Level

Retail

Published: May 29, 2015 8:35 am

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) reported its fiscal first-quarter results after the markets closed Thursday. The gaming giant had $0.68 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.06 billion in revenue. That compared to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $0.58 in EPS on $2.01 billion in revenue. In the first quarter of last year, the specialty retailer posted EPS of $0.59 and revenue of $2.00 billion.

Strong sales of downloadable content for new releases, such as Evolve and Mortal Kombat X, along with increases in mobile game downloads and Steam currency, were the primary growth drivers during the quarter.

Sales in the mobile and consumer electronics category rose 33.9%, or 34.6% in constant currency, to $136.8 million. Technology Brands revenues increased 70% to $102.2 million, driven by the addition of 65 new stores during the first quarter. As a result of these openings, Spring Mobile is now AT&T’s second largest authorized reseller in the United States.

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The company gave guidance for the fiscal second quarter and the full year. GameStop expects flat to 3.0% growth in comparable store sales and earnings per share of $0.21 to $0.25 for the period, compared to consensus estimates of $0.21 in EPS on $1.72 billion in revenue. As for the full year, the company expects EPS in a range of $3.63 to $3.83 and an increase in comparable store sales of 1% to 6%. The consensus estimates are $3.83 in EPS on $9.55 billion in revenue.

During the first quarter of 2015, the company repurchased 1.19 million shares for $46.4 million. At the end of the first quarter, there was $400.9 million remaining on the existing repurchase authorization.

At the same time, the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.36 per common share.

Paul Raines, CEO of GameStop, commented on earnings:

Our first quarter results exceeded expectations, displaying our market leadership and our ability to drive and leverage our core video game business and expand our diversified businesses to deliver healthy profits and solid top-line growth. This performance confirms that our effort to transform GameStop into a family of specialty brands is the right strategy to drive durable revenues and shareholder value.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of $369.8 million at the end of this quarter, compared to 208.9 million at the same time last year.

GameStop shares closed Thursday up 3.7% at $40.92. After the release of the earnings report, shares were up an additional 7% at $43.75 in premarket trading Friday. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $45.66 and a 52-week trading range of $31.69 to $46.59.

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