GameStop's Sales Boost Is Too Little, Too Late
GameStop (NYSE: GME) recently provided an update on its results for the first fiscal quarter (the period ending in early May) in the wake of the novel coronavirus. As expected, same-store sales (comps) cratered, falling 23% for the first nine weeks of the quarter. One bright spot that management pointed out was that U.S. comps were up 3% in the first three weeks of March (just prior to the store closures), but this is too short a period of time to draw any conclusions.
The company has about 5,500 stores across the globe, but two-thirds are located in the United States. Out of the more than 3,600 U.S. stores, two-thirds have continued to offer curbside pick-up. These have retained over 90% of the company's planned sales volume after the pandemic forced store closures.
While the pandemic has affected sales, it is unfair to judge the company's performance based on this very unusual period. In the interest of fairness, I looked back at the company's performance before measures were taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
Source Fool.com
