GameStop Stock Rises 2.6% Against a Weak Market as Ryan Cohen's eBay Pursuit and Insider Buying Stay in Focus

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Shares of GameStop rose 2.61%, or 61 cents, to $24.01 as of 10:12 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, even as the broader U.S. market slipped, following a rally driven by heavy insider buying and by CEO Ryan Cohen's continued pursuit of online marketplace eBay.

None of the coverage reviewed identified a company-specific announcement behind Monday's gain. The stock closed Friday at about $23.40 after pulling back on profit-taking following a week-long rally driven by insider buying, Benzinga reported. GameStop's market capitalization is about $11.8 billion, with a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of about 15.4, according to Yahoo Finance, and its shares have traded between $17.79 and $28.10 over the past year, according to Robinhood data. The company's next earnings report is estimated for December 8, according to Yahoo Finance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down roughly 0.6% in early trading as oil prices and Treasury yields jumped.

The recent story around GameStop has centered on insiders. A regulatory filing dated September 10 showed Cohen bought one million shares at $20.3759 each, or about $20.4 million, and a director bought the same day, according to a report syndicated by Yahoo Finance. Yahoo's stock page later highlighted a $26.4 million purchase by Cohen, and TipRanks reported he bought 1.15 million shares in a filing around September 19, while a director bought $402,000 in common stock on September 22. One analysis argued that a chief executive writing personal checks for tens of millions of dollars while quarterly revenue falls almost 19% may be seeing something the market has not yet priced in, though that view is an opinion rather than a finding.

That revenue decline is part of the backdrop. GameStop's latest quarter showed lower revenue but higher operating income, and management raised its adjusted EBITDA guidance while continuing to lean on its large eBay stake and what it calls strategic options, according to Simply Wall St's summary on Yahoo Finance. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, the company reported net sales of $835.3 million, up 14%, operating income of $143.3 million, and net income of $389.6 million, which included a $268.4 million unrealized gain on options tied to eBay stock, according to Cohen's biography on Wikipedia, which cited the company's filings.

The eBay pursuit is the bigger story. On May 3, GameStop proposed to acquire all of eBay at $125 per share, half in cash and half in GameStop stock, valuing eBay at about $55.5 billion, in a non-binding offer that it said represented a 46% premium to eBay's unaffected price on February 4, the day GameStop began accumulating its stake. In the proposal, Cohen wrote that he would receive "no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute" and would be "compensated solely based on the performance of the combined company." GameStop said its financing would draw on about $9.4 billion in cash and liquid investments along with debt, and it attached a "highly confident" letter from TD Securities for up to $20 billion.

eBay rejected the offer within days. "We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive," eBay Chairman Paul Pressler wrote in a letter reported by CNBC, adding that the board has confidence in current management. eBay's market capitalization was just over $48 billion at the time, compared with roughly $10.3 billion for GameStop, and many analysts questioned how a much smaller company would finance the deal, CNBC reported. Michael Burry wrote on Substack on May 5 that he had sold his entire GameStop stake after the bid, according to Yahoo Finance.

Cohen has not backed down. In a CNBC interview after the bid, he argued eBay is undervalued and could earn far more under tighter management. "This is a business that is under-earning and can make a lot more money," he said. "And GameStop is a good blueprint for that." In a July 16 Bloomberg interview, he declined to say whether he would raise the offer but was blunt about his intentions. "We're coming for eBay one way or another," Cohen said. Pressed on whether a higher bid was coming, he said, "I'm not going to negotiate against myself," and he said he would eventually take the plan directly to shareholders, according to Bloomberg. He also said the combined company would be investment grade and could become a $1 trillion business.

GameStop has built a significant position in the target. It owns about 43.4 million eBay shares, or roughly 9.8%, according to a July regulatory filing cited by Yahoo Finance. Shareholders also approved, with 68.7% of votes cast, an increase in the number of authorized Class A shares that gives the company capacity to issue stock in connection with strategic transactions, including the proposed eBay acquisition, according to a company press release in July. Cohen also asked the board in June to remove a proposed CEO performance award, a package press reports valued at about $35 billion if fully earned, to keep leadership focused on the operating business and the eBay proposal, the company said.

Investors remain divided about the plan. Critics have questioned GameStop's ability to buy a company about four times its size and the amount of debt involved, Bloomberg reported, and one report noted that most big firms do not publish formal earnings estimates on GameStop, leaving the stock thinly covered. eBay has not publicly signaled any change in its rejection in the coverage reviewed. CNBC reported that the proposal is subject to approval from eBay's board, regulators and shareholders of both companies.

For now, Monday's move reflects a stock trading on sentiment around insider conviction and the possibility of a larger fight over eBay rather than on a new announcement. Investors will watch for filings showing further insider transactions, any additional materials from GameStop on the proposal, and whether Cohen makes good on his pledge to go directly to eBay's shareholders. This article is a report on market developments and is not investment advice.