- GameStop stock jumped nearly 15% after announcing plans to invest in Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
- CEO Ryan Cohen hinted at the move with a photo alongside Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor.
- Analysts remain skeptical, pointing to weak earnings and a history of shifting strategies.
On Wednesday, shares of the ever-chaotic video game retailer—yeah, that GameStop—shot up almost 15%. Why? Apparently, the company’s decided it’s gonna start stacking Bitcoin with its cash reserves. Yep, you read that right.
In a release dropped late Tuesday, GameStop said its board gave the green light to a new investment move. The plan? Start treating Bitcoin as part of its treasury assets. According to the statement, the update was “unanimously approved,” which is a fancy way of saying everyone said, “Sure, why not?”
This all follows rumors that had been floating around for a while. CNBC mentioned back in Feb that GameStop was poking around crypto ideas. Then came that cryptic (pun intended?) post from CEO Ryan Cohen. He tossed up a pic on X (formerly Twitter, obviously) with Michael Saylor—y’know, the MicroStrategy guy who’s basically all-in on Bitcoin. That post? Kinda blew up. Folks started connecting dots, speculating.
Speaking of Saylor, his company now holds… what, over 447,000 BTC? Yeah. That’s according to a filing in February. MicroStrategy’s strategy (ha) seems to be paying off—their stock’s up 84% over the past year, largely thanks to the rise in Bitcoin’s price.
Now, GameStop might be hoping to follow that same path. Maybe. But not everyone’s buying the hype.
Michael Pachter, an analyst over at Wedbush, threw some cold water on the idea earlier this week. In a chat with Yahoo Finance, he said GameStop’s strategy “has changed about six times in three years” (oof). Now they’re chasing crypto?
Here’s his take: “MicroStrategy trades at about 2x their Bitcoin stash. If GameStop went all in with their $4.6B cash and did the same… the stock would actually drop like five bucks.” So yeah—not exactly a glowing review.
Also, quick note: GameStop’s earnings came out Tuesday night. And, uh, not great. They pulled in $1.28 billion in net sales for Q4—which is down 28% from the same time last year. Annual numbers? Adjusted EBITDA was $36.1 million. That’s also a drop—from $64.7 million the year before.
So what does this all mean?
Well… GameStop’s dipping toes into crypto waters, Bitcoin’s in the mix, and retail investors are probably already firing up Reddit threads. Is this just another meme-fueled gamble, or a legit shift in direction? Hard to say. But either way, buckle up. Things could get weird—again.
