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.

GameStop Corp. today released financial results on the company’s Investor Relations platform for the first quarter ended April 30th, 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 also announced it has continued hiring individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, ecommerce and technology, and operations.

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

First QUARTER OVERVIEW

Net sales were $1.378 billion for the quarter, compared to $1.277 billion in the prior year’s first quarter.

Sales attributable to new and expanded brand relationships contributed to the Company’s growth in the quarter.

Inventory was $917.6 million at the close of the quarter, compared to $570.9 million at the close of the prior year’s first quarter, reflecting a continued focus on improving in-stock levels in merchandise to meet increased customer demand and offset supply chain headwinds.

Ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of $1.035 billion as well as no debt other than a low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.

Took steps to support the recent launch of a digital asset wallet to allow gamers and others to store, send, receive and use cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) across decentralized apps. The wallet extension will enable transactions on GameStop’s NFT marketplace upon its intended launch in the second quarter.

Continued hiring individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, ecommerce and technology, and operations, including a new Chief Operating Officer with a background in retail and stores.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

The webcast with management is scheduled for June  1, 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 13730321. This webcast will be archived for two months on GameStop’s investor relations website.

Source: GameStop Newsroom, Form 10-Q

GameStop has filed their Preliminary Schedule 14A ahead of the 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting where investors are anticipating to vote on a stock split.

The video game retailer in the midst of a technology-centric transformation has evolved since last year, when a Schedule 14A was released under former CEO George Sherman’s regime.

GameStop’s filed Schedule 14A today reveals the company’s preliminary proxy statement providing notification matters to be brought to a vote for the 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

The letter from Furlong

Per tradition, the filing starts with a letter from the CEO, now recently instated Matt Furlong from Amazon.

Matt Furlong’s Letter to Stockholders

“We believe the investments made in recent quarters represent the foundation of value creation that will become evident quarters and years down the road. In 2022, we will continue to make pragmatic investments to modernize our infrastructure, expand our addressable market and grow our customer base. Leadership will not compromise when it comes to being maniacally focused on the long-term.” — Matt Furlong

Furlong’s letter expresses GameStop is “manically focused on the long-term,” and that GameStop’s new management team consists of hundreds of individuals with technology backgrounds.

As per Cohen’s guidance in the November 2020 Letter to the board, Furlong states GameStop has refocused around a singular mission to delight customers. 

The Agenda

While the date of the meeting remains unannounced, Shareholders can anticipate to be asked of several items on the agenda, including:

1. Elect six directors, each to serve as a member of the Board of Directors until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified;

2. Adopt and approve the GameStop Corp. 2022 Incentive Plan;

3. Provide an advisory, non-binding vote on the compensation of our named executive officers;

4. Ratify the Audit Committee’s appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending January 28, 2023;

5. Approve an amendment to the Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of the Class A Common Stock (the “common stock”) to 1,000,000,000; 

6. Transact such other business, if any, as may properly come before the annual meeting and at any postponement or adjournment of the annual meeting.

Only stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 8, 2022 are entitled to vote at the annual meeting and any postponement or adjournment thereof. 

The meeting

Unlike last year where hundreds of retail investors trekked to the Dallas-Fort Worth Area to attend GameStop’s 2021 annual meeting, the upcoming meeting will be held virtually this June. 

GameStop also invites stockholders and other interested parties to communicate directly and confidentially with the full Board, the Chair of the Board or the non-management directors as a group by writing to GameStop Corp., 625 Westport Parkway, Grapevine, Texas 76051, Attn: Secretary.  GameStop states that the secretary will forward such communications to the intended recipient and will retain copies for corporate records.

Breaking tradition, 30 minutes prior to, and during the Annual Meeting, investors will be able to submit questions by accessing the meeting site and following the directions.

The company will hold a Q&A session during the annual meeting, during which the company intends to answer questions that are pertinent to the items being brought before the stockholder vote at the annual meeting, as time permits and in accordance with the Rules of Conduct for the annual meeting.

Why split the stock?

Despite other items on the agenda, investors are primarily interested in the stock split, how it will pan out, and what the purpose is.

GameStop states that the primary purpose of increasing the number of authorized shares of common stock is to offer investors more flexibility in how they manage their ownership.

“The trading price of our common stock has risen significantly over the past couple of years. Our investors have expressed a high level of interest in our common stock. Feedback from our investors indicates that a higher stock price can limit those who desire to invest in our common stock. We anticipate that an increase in the number of outstanding shares resulting from a potential Stock Split will reset the market price of our common stock in a range that would give our investors more flexibility in how they manage their ownership of our common stock and make our common stock more accessible for anyone who wants to invest in our Company.”

GameStop’s Schedule 14-A Proposal 5

Along with the split, GameStop is interested in the authorization to issue additional shares for future acquisitions, capital-raising, or financing transactions. GameStop states they do not currently have any other plans, agreements, commitments or understandings with respect to the issuance of the additional shares, nor do they currently have any plans, arrangements, commitments or understandings with respect to the issuance of any shares of preferred stock.

FOR MORE, READ GAMESTOP’S April 11, 2022 14-a FILING.