Store counts in Canada and France have been shrinking for years, and sales in Canada represent just over 5% of the total
Shares of GameStop Corp. slipped Tuesday trading after the consumer-electronics retailer and original meme stock disclosed a plan to sell some of its international operations.
After climbing nearly 1% in intraday trading, the stock (GME) ended the day down 0.1%. The decline followed a 9.2% gain last week, its best weekly performance in three months, amid growing speculation that the company may start investing in cryptocurrencies.
That speculation came after Chief Executive Ryan Cohen posted a picture on social media last week of him with Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR), now doing business as Strategy. Saylor had transformed the software company into a play on bitcoin (BTCUSD) by adopting the cryptocurrency as its primary reserve asset in 2020.
Read: MicroStrategy explains why bitcoin is better than stocks, bonds or gold.
On Tuesday, GameStop filed a press release that was essentially one sentence, saying that as part of an evaluation of its international assets, it will pursue the sale of its operations in France and Canada.
The company didn’t disclose any estimates of proceeds from the sales or how the proceeds might be used.
GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company generated $46.3 million in revenue from Canada in the third quarter to Nov. 2, or 5.4% of the total revenue for the quarter of $860.3 million.
The company didn’t break down its sales generated from France, but said it was part of its Europe operations that also included Italy and Germany. Revenue from Europe was $172.9 million in the latest quarter, or 20.1% of the total.
Meanwhile, the company’s latest annual report said it had 203 stores in Canada and 314 stores in France as of Feb. 3, 2024, or 12.4% of the total store count.
That compares with 216 stores in Canada and 351 stores in France at the end of the previous fiscal year, and 231 stores in Canada and 399 stores in France the year before that.
-Tomi Kilgore
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