GameStop touts $1.7 billion in holiday sales

Retailer reports 29 percent growth in final weeks of the year, says market conditions played to its strengths.

With a new year underway, many in the gaming industry are looking back on the last days of 2006 for a sense of how successful the holidays really were for publishers and retailers. Specialty retailer GameStop today offered an inkling of the season's tidings with the announcement that it brought in more than $1.7 billion in sales in the last nine weeks of the year. That tally is 29 percent more than the company managed to sell in the last nine weeks of 2005 and represents store-by-store sales growth of 23.9 percent.

GameStop chairman and CEO R. Richard Fontaine called the holiday season "one of the most successful ever" for the chain and said in a statement that this year's gaming market played to his company's strengths.

"The diversity of desired products made this a real game specialist's holiday,'" Fontaine said. "It was a season that rewarded the knowledge and advice given by our seasoned managers and game playing associates throughout the company."

Fontaine also noted encouraging trends for the company, including a broader array of customers getting into gaming, strong hardware sales despite shortages, and record sales of gift cards that will boost the company's revenues in 2007 as they are redeemed. The company's best-selling titles for the holiday season were Gears of War, Final Fantasy XII, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Guitar Hero 2, and WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007.

In light of the holiday season's strong hardware sales, GameStop also bumped up its guidance for earnings per share and comparable store sales growth figures for investors. The company now expects diluted earnings per share of $1.58 to $1.60 for the quarter ($2.03 to $2.05 for the year) and comparable store sales growth between 22 percent and 23 percent (10 percent to 10.5 percent for the year). Previously, the company projected earnings per share of $1.53 to $1.59 for the quarter ($1.98 to $2.04 for the year) and a comparable store sales growth of 14 percent to 18 percent for the quarter (7 percent to 9 percent for the year).

118 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    Well no store would give you a lot for a game. You are better off selling it to a friend

  • kopedawg

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 8:04 am PT

    "MayIbURpimp
    Gamestop is a garbage. I dont agree with the fact that they open new games and then sale them WTF. the whole purpose of buying a new game is so you can open the thing your self to feel that those $50 are worth it , but no LAMESTOP wants to open games and then sale them to you like new as far as im concern once the game has been open is no longer new therefore it should be sold as use."

    If you owned a store, and knew that if you kept live games on the floor, they'd be stolen, wouldn't you open the game, take the disk out, carefully place it in an envelope so as not to scratch it, and lock it in a drawer, then price the empty case and put it on the floor so that customers can see that you have it and what the price is? It's a hell of a lot better than a new CAR, which has been TAKEN ON TEST DRIVES! We don't 'test drive' our gutted disks, just lock them away, therefore, they are NEW.

    And if ripping cellophane off of a disk case is what it takes for you to feel that your $50 is worth it, I'll personally shrink wrap 100 empty dvd cases and sell them to you for $50 each. Personally, playing the game is what gives me MY $50 worth.

  • VengenceZero

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 11:09 pm PT

    I HATE GAMESTOP.....They Rip People Off. They Buy Games Cheap N Sale High, Which Is Good Business But 4 10 Year Old Bobby: It Sucks. HELLOOOO OVERSTOCK.COM!

  • dajuand23

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 9:49 pm PT

    "They don't give enough in trade". "I saw a kid bring in a bunch of old Xbox games and get 70 dollars". Man I'm sick of people complaining about trade in prices. You're not going to get gold for crap. People should be glad that there are companies that will take old games and still give you something for them. I don't see Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, or Target (The companies that some of these people "love" so much) attempting to take your games. They just want to take your money and get you out. It blows my mind how people have so much hatred for a store. Some people always have to pick some place to shop and then they feel entitled to hate on everyone else. If you like shopping at one specific retailer then that's cool, but don't hate on other ones for no apparent reason. Did some of you ever stop to think that trade ins help some people who can't spend 50 or 60 dollars on a game in cash? If you take advantage of some of the great trade in offers sometimes you won't have to spend any money at all. I got my 360 and PS3 without having to pay a dime out of pocket. I also feel that these employees that are hating on their own company should leave. Why would you rent games from Gamefly when you have the priveledge of checking games out "idiot". You know who I'm referring to. If you are a collector and don't like to trade, that's cool. You don't have to hate on it though. And for the record, new games are the same price EVERYWHERE unless someone is running a sale. If it's 59 at GameStop, then it's 59 at Best Buy. Do your homework.

  • dajuand23

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 9:22 pm PT

    Mit_Man, Are you a GameStop employee? because if you are then you need to leave. You are an ungrateful employee to sit up here and say that you hate the man who signs your paycheck. They don't have to do anything special for you dealing with the hardships of the holidays, IT'S YOUR JOB!!! Deal with it. It's what you get paid for. It's a part of retail. Every retailer has to deal with unreasonable customers during the holiday season. And it's not Gamestop's fault that their wasn't enough PS3's and Wii's to meet the demand. You don't have the right to talk about people who complain about trade in prices when you're complaining about being an employee. Oh, and for the record, I know a manager who runs a store that only does around 5 grand a week (extremely low for a Gamestop) and is still going to get a bonus. How you ask? Because bonuses are based on how well your store can bring in trades. Get your facts straight. If you're not loyal to the man that pays you, go work for Wal-Mart.

  • ninja929

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 7:26 pm PT

    I contributed atleast a grand to that 1.7 billion. Gamestop should thank me.

  • anamnawshad

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 3:44 pm PT

    Impressive!!

  • Sharvie

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 7:52 am PT

    Wow no wonder with games like GeoW and CoH.

  • frank84239

    Posted Jan 6, 2007 2:04 am PT

    WELL AT LEAST THIS SYSTEM IS WORTH IT UNLIKE THE PS3 AND 360 WHICH R GARBAGE

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:57 pm PT

    Hooray!

  • Wolverine77

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 10:29 pm PT

    dang, im one of the "wonderful game playing associates" and i get minimum wage!

  • Mrpowers35

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 7:38 pm PT

    Dang. Wouldn't be surprised.

  • tdf64

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:38 pm PT

    whoa thats a lot

  • marioman50

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 4:43 pm PT

    thefjk:
    "I alwats confuse GameSpot, and GameSpot... are you guys affiliates?"

    I think that was supposed to be a joke.

  • marioman50

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 4:41 pm PT

    I hate gamestop

  • Autolycus

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 2:16 pm PT

    as a loyal slave there, if only you knew how badly GS stick it to ya...the best thign thy have to offer is their mags and discount card...the worst thing they have to offer you is used games, because the more used games purchased, the more game prices go up WORLD WIDE...

  • PixyMisao

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:53 pm PT

    I went into Gamestop recently, and their used PS2 and even Gamecube games had been picked clean, (the latter probably due to the Wii's backward compadability). So this report makes sense if most of Gamestop's profit comes from used sales.

  • quarterfly

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:29 pm PT

    Hmm, I personaly couldln't get a Wii/PS3 there all gone in Vancouver. Although I did see 1 PS3 beinhd the counter but they said it was already bought and the guy didn't wan't to lug it around on boxing day

  • Icekxg

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    I would think that those sales would even be higher if they could've received more Wii's for launch like Best Buy and Target did.

  • Solid-Fox

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:58 am PT

    That's good not bad at all,They did sold great games.

  • Stammalamma

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:54 am PT

    eaglecare: "I love that gamespot is sucking ebgames and gamestop's dick so hard they have to write up a story every time either of them farts. Who gives a f*ck."

    You gonna be alright there chief? Looks like somebody had a bad Christmas. Don't worry; not many people did get a PS3 and I'm sure daddy still loves you.

  • Stammalamma

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:51 am PT

    holy $%@? I want a fricken raise

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:30 am PT

    hmmm.... well.... 1.5 launches (sony being the 0.5 of course).... so..... yeah, gonna be big sales...

  • snakes2solid

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 11:17 am PT

    it's all those overpriced game bundles with games we would never buy, that they know we have no other choice but to take!!... it's business, yes i know..and hurray for them..but as a consumer i don't like feel like they care at all about " us" the customer who pays their salaries............................................and to all you 10 year old readers...i don't mean care as in " i hurt my wittle thumb and ebgames and gamestop is not putting a bandade on it"!,, lol!!

  • ocdog45

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 10:44 am PT

    money grubbin gamestop/ebgames. they got my money

  • caseyrugby

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 10:25 am PT

    I work in retail right now and yeah its not more than 10-15 bucks MAX

  • ExTrazz-SeWICX

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 6:57 am PT

    WOW

  • Dmitheon

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 6:19 am PT

    So they guide up a few pennies. I still find it amazing that around 75% of their business is done during 1 quarter of the year. The big question will be profits. It should be interesting because during launches of Playstation2 and Xbox (1), they didn't have these package-only "deals" for buying systems. That actually hit their bottom line adversely because in a normal year customer X might spend less but on items that ended up generating more profit than a console plus one game. Bottom line: this nutty bundles are here to stay. Congrats to GME on a solid year, I wish I still owned the stock.

  • kenneu

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:57 am PT

    **And mark up on new games IS NOT 50% more like $10 MAX. And when you think you have to pay person X person Y and person Z to get that game it most likely works out to be more like $5 if that per new game. Now to say that the controllers or cables were marked up more than %50 would not be a far stretch.**

    Let's just say that I've spent a number of years working retail computer/games related. I can assure you that on a $50 game, the margins are better than $10 on a $50 game. The general low end of the range is about 40% with a high sometimes over 50%. The margins are quite a bit higher on the PC games than on proprietary disk format such as GCN and lower yet on cartridge-type games, but they are better than you assert, I can assure you. Those numbers are closely guarded secrets by both the distributors and the retailers because they don't want the perception that they are gouging -- which they aren't. It costs money to buy the product, put it on a shelf, pay the employees, rent, lights, insurance, and so on.

    For all of those that keep saying gamestop is making a killing by "stealing" your games, consider the fact that there would be dozens of similar companies popping up all over the place if the financial rewards were so grossly over-inflated. Sheesh -- such feeble minded people.

  • Sanguis_Malus

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:54 am PT

    This chain does not exist in the UK, miiiguel.

    We have Gamestation in the UK, its c**, they buy back games for a pittance and then sell them for not much less than fresh copies.

    We do have Play though, this is good because the games are cheaper than nearly all other places because its an on-line retailer. Postage is free as well.

    I either buy from Play or occasionally from independent retailers. I don't support the greedy large chains !

  • miiiguel

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 5:11 am PT

    Lord_Daemon: although profit is the thing to pursue, to have cash flow is also very good. So this is good news to Gamestop.

    Can someone tell me if they exist but in the US ?

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 1:54 am PT

    i think that store is good

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 1:50 am PT

    I confuse GameStop and GameSpot, and it appears that I am not alone. They have the same letters...

  • metalmulisha808

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 1:17 am PT

    i added to that total in sales.

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 1:10 am PT

    I always liked shopping at gamespot, treated me good

  • DiabloAngel

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 11:49 pm PT

    Gamestop has always been good to me, especially with their discounts on pre-owned game titles. At any rate, congrats to Gamestop on a great year.

  • thefjk

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 9:14 pm PT

    I alwats confuse GameSpot, and GameSpot... are you guys affiliates?

  • pompomboy

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 9:10 pm PT

    i dont live in the states so this doesnt effect me

  • cobrax80

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:26 pm PT

    they are only going to get richer

  • Nismo

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:25 pm PT

    I cant believe these Aholes keep making money. It was all about those stupid forced bundles while they cancelled reservations for most people. They and their sister company EBgames had the b@lls to call this bundles "Game's Choice" bundle. Lol yeah if people had a choice they would leave all the forced crap behind.

  • okassar

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:19 pm PT

    Ofcourse,Gamestop has a better shopping experience than other gaming stores,the next-gen of gaming arrived September 22,2005,and the gaming industry is growing.

  • air0123

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:18 pm PT

    2007 will be even better, congrats Gamestop.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 8:00 pm PT

    I have always favored GameStop over other video game outlets. Good for them.

  • caseyrugby

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    1.7 billion thats it?

    And mark up on new games IS NOT 50% more like $10 MAX. And when you think you have to pay person X person Y and person Z to get that game it most likely works out to be more like $5 if that per new game. Now to say that the controllers or cables were marked up more than %50 would not be a far stretch.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 7:50 pm PT

    Forget GameStop! It's Amazon 4 Life!!!

  • aRE-you-AFraid

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 7:36 pm PT

    dang, thats a whole lot of cash money.

  • Dirk13

    Posted Jan 4, 2007 7:13 pm PT

    you know it's funny, i was understandably agreeing with this because i had bought quite a bit of games this holiday, but then i realized they were all from amazon, best buy or gamequest

advertisement

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!