After a two-year cat and mouse chase, the Chairman of GameStop and Manager of RC Ventures has joined Joe Fonicello of GMEdd.com for his first extended interview.

When I invested in GameStop just over two years ago, the mainstream media considered the brick-and-mortar retailer the next Blockbuster, with the company valued for an inevitable bankruptcy. In October 2020, I shared the GameStop thesis in my University’s Stock Pitch competition and was told to “pick a company with strong long-term prospects.”

Myself and a small group of other passionate retail investors believed the retailer was misunderstood and took it upon ourselves to create GMEdd.coma platform to share the research that Wall Street analysts and media pundits were missing.

Once Ryan Cohen, the founder of Chewy and Manager of RC Ventures, reached an agreement to join the company board in January 2021, we published a research report with a view on how GameStop might evolve under his influence.

Within two weeks, the share price far exceeded even our most bullish case. Since then, GMEdd.com has followed the company’s progress through crowdsourced investigative research.

The investigations

With Cohen at the helm, video game retailer GameStop worked in silence, undergoing a tech-centric transformation with the development of a premium NFT marketplace marking this transition. The company’s newfound commitment was initially exposed when we stumbled upon job postings alluding to blockchain talent at the company in April of 2021, a year before the NFT marketplace would be publicly announced.

Investors began to speculate what GameStop NFT would entail. Curious to find out, we dug deep—on October 22nd 2021 we published clues that Loopring would be GameStop’s partner in a premium NFT Marketplace.

Just five days later GMEdd.com discovered Loopring’s source code, confirming our speculation and revealing Loopring was partnered with the video game retailer on an NFT Marketplace built on Ethereum Layer-2 technology.

The news shook the blockchain community, as the underdog coin became the most talked about cryptocurrency on Reddit. Loopring’s market cap shot from $565M to over $4.27B.

Our contributors tracked GameStop’s every hire, over 420 of them, using LinkedIn data to determine where the company was poaching their talent from.

The team identified that GameStop.com order numbers were sequentially numbered and could form the basis for a highly accurate estimate of performance. The crowdsourcing of order numbers fueled a financial model we freely shared online.

GMEdd.com was also first to note GameStop’s corporate expansion to South Florida, Seattle, and Boston.

the conclusion

It has been a privilege to write for such enthusiastic readers. There was rarely a dull moment over the past two years, as our community was always working to predict GameStop’s next move. GMEdd.com uncovered the power of crowdsourcing research.

After writing over two hundred stories for the platform, it is with great honor to conclude GMEdd.com’s investigations into GameStop by conducting Ryan Cohen’s first extended interview. 

I want to thank Rod Alzmann, ‘AlphaHound’, Chris Silvestro, and Jenna Dauzat for their voluntary contributions to GMEdd.com.

Cheers.


Join the discussion on Discord at GMEdd.com/discord and follow @GMEdd on Twitter.

GameStop has entered into yet another partnership with a premium cryptocurrency company.

GameStop Corp. today announced that it has entered into a partnership with FTX US.

The partnership is intended to introduce more GameStop customers to FTX’s community and its marketplaces for digital assets. In addition to collaborating with FTX on new e-commerce and online marketing initiatives, GameStop will begin carrying FTX gift cards in select stores.

During the term of the partnership, GameStop will be FTX’s preferred retail partner in the United States.

The financial terms of the partnership are not being disclosed.

What is FTX?

FTX Exchange is a leading centralized cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products.

Founded in 2018 by MIT graduate and former Jane Street Capital international exchange-traded funds trader Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX offers a range of trading products, including derivatives, options, volatility products, and leveraged tokens.

FTX’s wide range of products and easy-to-use desktop and mobile trading apps draw crypto investors of all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals or, in crypto jargon, from newbies to whales. The FTX platform offers a comprehensive range of order types, from basic market orders to more complex trailing stop orders.

FTX also provides spot markets in over 100 cryptocurrency trading pairs such as BTC/USDT, ETH/USDT, XRP/USDT, and its native token FTT/USDT.


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Sources: GameStop News Room


November 11, 2022 Editorial Update: GameStop is cutting ties with FTX after the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy. GameStop announced the company would be providing refunds for FTX gift cards.

GameStop Corp. today released financial results on the company’s Investor Relations platform for the second quarter ended July 30, 2022.

The gaming retailer in the midst of transformation will also host an investor conference call at 5:00 pm ET to review the company’s financial results. This call and any supplemental information can be accessed at GameStop’s investor relations home page.

The Company’s Form 10-Q and supplemental information can be found at investor.GameStop.com

SECOND QUARTER OVERVIEW

Sales attributable to collectibles, which is a segment the Company intends to grow over the long-term, were $223.2 million for the quarter, compared to $177.2 million in the prior year’s second quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $387.5 million for the quarter, representing a sequential decline of 14.3% from the first quarter of 2022 and reflecting, in part, the Company’s focus on right-sizing costs following a period of significant investment in long-term initiatives.

Inventory was $734.8 million at the close of the quarter, compared to $596.4 million at the close of the prior year’s second quarter, reflecting the Company’s focus on maintaining adequate in-stock levels to meet customer demand and offset lingering supply chain headwinds.

Followed the launch of the Company’s digital wallet by launching the Company’s non-fungible token (“NFT”) marketplace to allow gamers, creators, collectors and others to buy, sell and trade NFTs.

Modernized and strengthened the Company’s systems through the implementation of SAP.

Ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of $908.9 million as well as no debt other than a low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The webcast with management is scheduled for September  7, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the Company’s fourth quarter activities and financial results. This call, along with supplemental information, can also be accessed at GameStop’s Investor Relations. The phone number for the call is 877-451-6152 and the confirmation code is 13732487. This webcast will be archived for two months on GameStop’s investor relations website.

Source: GameStop NewsroomForm 10-Q

GameStop is delivering power to the store leaders and senior store staff.

A report from Sarah Needleman of the Wall Street Journal reveals that GameStop Corp. plans to reward thousands of employees with stock and pay raises, returning focus to its bricks-and-mortar business as the company looks to become profitable under new leadership.

The video game retailer is trying to do more to motivate and retain the employees at its stores, according to a Wednesday memo to employees.

The company plans to award stock to all of its U.S. store leaders and give raises to some senior store staff. Store leaders will receive up to $21,000 in stock, which will vest over three annual installments.

Retail employees have had mixed reactions on the stock awards.

The financial awards will start next month, Chief Executive Matt Furlong said in the memo. Mr. Furlong didn’t specify what amount of time employees would need to have worked at the company to qualify for the raises.

“After spending a year strengthening our assortment, infrastructure and tech capabilities, we’re now focused on achieving profitability, launching proprietary products, leveraging our brand in new ways and investing in our stores,” Mr. Furlong said in the memo. “While we continue evolving our e-commerce and digital asset offerings, our store fleet will remain critical to GameStop’s value proposition.”

The company is investing between $45 million to $50 million in the new employee-compensation initiative, according to a person familiar with the matter. It applies only to staff at the company’s more than 3,000 locations in the U.S., this person said.


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Sources: Wall Street Journal, Reddit

GameStop’s CFO is out after just about a year, and an internal memo within the company has laid out a plan towards profitability.

GameStop has fired its Chief Financial Officer, Mike Recupero, and is making staff cuts across departments as part of an aggressive turnaround plan, the video game retailer revealed Thursday.

Mike Recupero, a seasoned technology industry finance executive who spent more than 17 years at Amazon, was announced as the incoming CFO on June 9th, 2021 under Chairman Ryan Cohen’s guidance.

The sudden departure of Recupero appears less-than-amicable, as GameStop’s Form 8-K filing reveals he was terminated without cause effective immediately.

GameStop’s Form 8-K filed July 7th, 2022.

Simultaneous to Recupero’s termination, long standing Chief Accounting Officer Diana Saadeh-Jajeh has assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer.

She will have a starting annual salary of $200,000, according to the filing, and will be eligible for a “transformation bonus” in an aggregate amount of $1,965,000.

Hands off Mike

After about a year with the company, Recupero was “fired because he was not the right culture fit” and was “too hands off,” a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

He was pushed out by GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen, the person said.

In May, GameStop Board Member Larry Cheng stated that a down market tests whether the Chief Financial Officer is a leader. He went on to state that a culture-driving CFO can be a huge asset to companies in these down markets.

Larry Cheng on Twitter on May 11, 2022

“A down market tests whether the CFO is a leader. If the CFO is more of a back-office administrator playing a support role, companies can falter during these times. If the CFO is a culture-driving, agenda-setting leader, it can be a huge asset to companies in down markets.”

Cheng’s belief that a CFO acting more as a back-office administrator playing a support role can lead to a company faltering during a down market sounds familiar to the claims that Recupero was terminated for being “too hands off,” leading us to speculate that Cheng’s tweet was indicative of the situation at GameStop.

The Board Member also shared some evolving theory and observation related to CFOs on Twitter in January.

Larry Cheng on Twitter on January 31, 2022

“Evolving theory/observation: CFOs who know the key metrics of their business usually present to the board through organized slides. CFOs who aren’t sure about the key metrics often present to the board by navigating an extensive spreadsheet.”

The tweet from January indicates Cheng’s expectations for CFOs. The board member expects financial officers to present their key metrics in an organized manner, and that navigating extensive spreadsheets instead is a lack of understanding.

Larry Cheng’s Volition Capital is invested in a number of businesses so there is little evidence these tweets are about Recupero, but they say a lot about Cheng’s values.

Read more about Larry Cheng’s past, including his early investment in Ryan Cohen’s Chewy and mentorship to the ambitious entrepreneur here.

Organizational Updates

GameStop is also undergoing several organizational updates, including layoffs and investing in field employees, in a strive towards profitability.

The layoffs, which were announced by CEO Matt Furlong in an email memo to all employees, are on the corporate side of the company rather than at its stores, and are intended to “reduce bloat” as GameStop invests in other areas.

GameStop’s internal memo sent after market close on July 7th.

Furlong’s memo begins by highlighting the company’s evolving commerce business and new products in the company’s launching blockchain group.

The Chief Executive goes on to state that the company is now focused on achieving sustained profitability.

“After investing heavily in personnel, technology, inventory and supply chain infrastructure over the past 18 months, our focus is on achieving sustained profitability. This means eliminating excess costs and operating with an intense owner’s mentality.”

The CEO also contextualizes the cuts, and says the company has made 600 corporate hires since last year. Moving forward, the company will invest in store leaders and field employees, although specifics are yet to be announced.

The memo claims the hiring frenzy of last year and the first half of 2022 has positioned management to “right-size headcount” across several corporate departments.

To conclude, Furlong states that the changes will enable the company to operate in a profitable manner as it executes the strategy of pursuing sales growth and new product launches.

“These changes will enable us to operate in a profitable manner as we execute against our strategy of pursuing sales growth in our commerce business and launching new products that empower customers within the digital asset and web3 gaming verticals.”

word on the block

Several employees have made their layoffs known on LinkedIn, including Senior Directors and Software Engineers.

Pierre Dunkel, a former Director of Finance at GameStop, offered to help review resumes and engage in mock interviews for his coworkers.

LinkedIn posts by former GameStop employees on July 7th, 2022.

Dunkel also states that he is “not sure if anyone is left at the Seattle office at this point.”

GameStop had only recently expanded to Seattle, Washington, as part of an initiative uncovered by GMEdd.com in July 2021 that sought to reach a broader talent pool.

Rumors have surfaced that around 20% of corporate hires have been laid off, indicating that not all individuals who were brought on board during the hiring frenzy were compatible with the business; something to be expected during rapid growth.

Posts from LinkedIn on July 7th, 2021.

Posts on LinkedIn from Lesley Bender and Neda Pacifico of GameStop work to clue investors in on the departments facing downsizing.

“If you are looking to hire folks across visual merchandising, supply chain, social media, site merchandising, content, product, ecommerce, please let me know and I’d be happy to make intros.”

SVP, Ecommerce Neda Pacifico’s July 7th post also adds that individuals in analytics, data engineering, and user experience research were let go.

Hearsay also claims that no blockchain team members were included in the layoffs.

nimble operations

Through rapidly expanding GameStop’s corporate team with six hundred hires in just over a year, not everyone found compatibility with the start-up mentality that Chairman Ryan Cohen brought to the transforming business.

With GameStop committed to an NFT Marketplace launch by the end of the month, the results of the past year’s work will soon begin to unfold.


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Sources: GameStop Form 8-K, CNBC, Neda Pacifico on LinkedIn, Lesley Bender on LinkedIn, Tomasz Wolak on LinkedIn, Adrian San Pedro on LinkedIn, Sam Montoya on LinkedIn, Pierre Dunkel on LinkedIn, Larry Cheng on Twitter, Larry Cheng on Twitter

As an NFT Marketplace launch nears, GameStop has declared the company’s stock split, a move long encouraged by retail investors in the stock.

GameStop Corp.  today announced that its Board of Directors has approved and declared a four-for-one split of the company’s common stock in the form of a stock dividend.

Company stockholders of record at the close of business on July 18, 2022 will receive a dividend of three additional shares of common stock for each then-held share of common stock.

WHEN SPLIT

The stock dividend will be distributed after the close of trading on July 21, 2022. Trading will begin on a stock split-adjusted basis on July 22, 2022.

GameStop’s Investor Relations on July 6th 2022.

GameStop first announced the company’s intention to split their stock 3 months ago on March 31, 2022.

For nearly a year, retail investors have speculated if GameStop would ever engage in a stock split. Even GMEdd.com published tongue-in-cheek conspiracy when Chairman Ryan Cohen shared a photo of himself with split chopsticks under his nose.

GameStop’s declared stock split plan will be completed through a stock dividend, which awards existing shareholders with new shares. Unlike a typical stock split where already held shares are divided, in a stock dividend additional shares are allotted to existing shareholders.

GameStop currently has 76.13M shares outstanding pre-split and will have 304.52M shares outstanding post-split.