GameStop Shares Hold Near $24.50 After Cohen's Second Large Insider Share Purchase

GRAPEVINE, Texas — GameStop Corp. shares traded around $24.51 in midafternoon New York dealing on Sept. 23, up 2 percent, after Chairman and Chief Executive Ryan Cohen disclosed another open-market purchase of the video-game retailer's stock.

A Form 4 and an amended Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Cohen bought 1,150,680 Class A shares on Sept. 21 at a weighted average price of $22.9375. The trades ranged from $22.76 to $23.02 and totaled about $26.4 million. After the purchase he reported direct ownership of 40,498,522 shares. Including warrants, the 13D listed beneficial ownership of 44,233,306 shares, or about 8.7 percent of the company, based on 504,500,990 shares outstanding as of Sept. 3 plus warrant shares.

The block followed a Sept. 10 purchase of 1 million shares at a weighted average of about $20.38, or roughly $20.4 million. Directors also added stock in the same stretch, including Alain Attal's reported buy of 17,500 shares. Filings described Cohen's latest trade as outside a Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Shares jumped in extended trading after the first disclosure and opened higher on Sept. 22. By Sept. 23 the stock was still holding the gain near $24.50. The name had already risen about 30 percent over the prior month, Barron's-linked coverage noted, so the latest pop started from a higher base.

The buying landed after GameStop's fiscal second-quarter results, released Sept. 8 for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 1. Net sales were $790.2 million, down from $972.2 million a year earlier. The company attributed the drop mainly to last year's Nintendo Switch 2 launch comparison, planned store closings and the sale of French operations. Collectibles net sales rose 57 percent to $356.3 million and were about 45 percent of the quarter's sales.

Operating income was $160.2 million, GameStop's highest second-quarter operating profit since its 2002 public listing, according to the company's figures as reported by GameSpot. Net income was $298.7 million, up from $168.6 million. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.27 matched the consensus figure cited by TipRanks. The company raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to more than $650 million from $600 million.

Preliminary results issued Aug. 31 had already flagged that profit would include about $238 million of net gains on an eBay-related derivative and equity stake, partly offset by about $75 million of losses on digital assets and related receivables. During the quarter GameStop converted that derivative into a direct eBay holding. As of Aug. 1 it held about 43.4 million eBay shares with a fair value near $4.95 billion.

Cohen made an unsolicited proposal this year to buy eBay at $125 a share. eBay called the bid "neither credible nor attractive." Cohen has said he would keep pursuing a combination. GameStop's stake is the cash-and-paper footprint of that campaign.

The retailer also amended a convertible-notes exchange in late August so about $358.4 million would be settled in cash instead of stock. Stockholders earlier approved a larger share authorization. Those capital-structure moves sit beside a smaller store base and a mix that now leans on collectibles more than new-game boxes.

Cohen has not issued a fresh public letter explaining the September purchases. The filings say personal funds, which may include margin loans. Markets often read clustered CEO buying as a signal. It is also a concentration of one investor's wealth in a stock that still trades with meme-era volume and short interest.

The operating story is mixed in plain numbers. Sales are down year over year. Margins and operating profit are up. Collectibles are carrying more of the register. Investment gains on eBay and swings in digital assets still move the bottom line. Guidance for adjusted EBITDA above $650 million is a management forecast, not a booked result. The next scheduled earnings date cited in recent notes is Dec. 9.

GameStop remains a mall-and-strip retailer with a large cash and investment book and a chief executive who is also its most watched shareholder. The Sept. 21 ticket at nearly $23, after a $20.38 ticket 11 days earlier, is the fact the tape is trading. The $24.51 print on Sept. 23 is the market's near-term answer. Neither filing predicts whether collectibles growth offsets the fading hardware cycle, or whether the eBay stake becomes a deal. They show Cohen paid up twice in September and now reports more than 40 million shares in his own name.