GameStop results on deck as bitcoin buzz continues to surround company

Videogame retailer and original meme stock reports fourth-quarter results after market close Tuesday

GameStop Corp. reports its fourth-quarter results after market close on Tuesday amid ongoing chatter that Chief Executive Ryan Cohen could turn the videogame retailer and original meme stock into some form of bitcoin play.

Recent years have been tough on GameStop (GME), marked by falling sales amid fierce competition from digital gaming. However, the company did report a surprise third-quarter profit in December.

For the fourth quarter, analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for earnings of 8 cents a share and revenue of $1.477 billion.

GameStop’s fourth-quarter results come amid Cohen’s ongoing attempts to streamline the company. Last month, GameStop said that it is selling some of its international operations and had launched a “store portfolio optimization review,” which involves identifying stores for closure.

GameStop has also made a foray into the trading-card business. Last year, it announced a collaboration with Collectors Holdings Inc.’s Professional Sports Authenticator division, which offers trading-card and autograph authentication and grading services.

Related: GameStop’s stock dips after plan to sell some international operations

But in a note released Monday, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote that he sees no potential for a rebound in GameStop’s core business.

“The company has once again accelerated store closures in an attempt to save its way to prosperity, and its plans to enter the trading-card business and to invest in cryptocurrency are striking in their lack of specificity; with no clear strategy to leverage its store base, management appears to be planning a withdrawal from its core business and hoping that its entry into a wildly fragmented trading-card business or investment in crypto can drive it to profitability despite its utter lack of competitive advantage.”

GameStop shares trade at a level “that ignores the company’s manychallenges ahead,” Pachter wrote. Wedbush reiterated its underperform rating and $10 price target for GameStop.

Nonetheless, GameStop has a sizeable cash pile, which amounted to $4.616 billion at the end of the third quarter and could potentially be used to invest in bitcoin (BTCUSD).

Cryptocurrency talk has been swirling around GameStop in recent weeks. On Feb 26, Cohen confirmed on X that he received a letter from Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole urging GameStop to dive into bitcoin.

In the letter, as reported by Coindesk, Cole noted that his company’s clients hold shares of GameStop through Strive Asset Management’s ETFs. GameStop, he wrote, “has an incredible opportunity to transform its financial future by becoming the premier bitcoin treasury company in the gaming sector.”

Related: Why GameStop might jump on board the bitcoin bandwagon

Cohen’s post on X came just over two weeks after he posted a picture of himself with Michael Saylor, the executive chair of software company and bitcoin play MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR) That company, which changed its name to Strategy last month, has held bitcoin as its primary treasury-reserve asset since 2020 and has been aggressively buying the cryptocurrency.

The post sparked speculation on social media that GameStop is planning a bitcoin investment, which continues to rumble on the eve of the company’s results.

Bitcoin has recently plunged from its record high, although a potential foray by GameStop into the cryptocurrency could be an attempt to reap the benefits of a crypto-friendly Trump administration. Stocks in the crypto space include online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD), which has risen 153.5% in the last 12 months, and Strategy, which is up 80.9%. However, crypto-trading exchange Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) is down 27.4% in that time.

Related: GameStop’s stock rises after CEO Ryan Cohen’s social-media post sparks bitcoin chatter

GameStop shares are up 69.4% in the last 12 months, although the stock has fallen 18.3% in 2025 so far.

Related: Roaring Kitty makes cryptic ‘Futurama’ post. Everyone is trying to figure it out.

GameStop, like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), was lifted by the meme-stock frenzy in 2021. The return of influential trader Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” to social media last year gave the stocks another boost. In Gill’s first YouTube livestream in three years in June 2024, the trader described himself as still a “believer” in GameStop.

Stocktwits, a social platform for investors and traders, told MarketWatch that it was seeing a large sentiment swing toward the bullish side for GameStop on Monday.

“Some users are still deep believers in this earnings call triggering a short squeeze, while others are just praying for another Roaring Kitty sighting,” said Noor Al, Stocktwits’ director of community.

-James Rogers

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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