The Psychology of GameStop's Management Communication - Are Investors... -12/16/09 at 11:32 AM CSTby Joe Matty

GameStop Corp's (NYSE:GME) management is making every effort to recoup investor trust after earnings missses earlier in the year. Now, there is not one but two clear signals of management communicating confidence in their business. They are practically yelling . . . "Trust us, GameStop is well positioned, we are gaining share. We will come through with re...

Activision Will Beat Analyst NPD Revenue Estimate Today -12/10/09 at 10:27 AM CSTby Perry Rod

ANALYSIS - Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is predicting that NPD will show that publisher Activision Blizzard is going to bring in 455 million in U.S. revenue in the month of November.  Pachter also predicts that 6 million units of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be sold. These two predictions do not make sense, considering November 2008 ...

GameStop - The Barbell Company -12/10/09 at 10:07 AM CSTby Joe Matty

Many have observed that NPD data has not necessarily been indicative of GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) performance. I happen to agree based on the Barbell Theory. GameStop has two big earnings drivers going for it that allow it to outperform a weak or relatively weak software sector: 1. Used Games. On the low end they have a very successful and dominant used...

Comparing GameStop Corp. to Game Group PLC -12/09/09 at 11:26 AM CSTby Perry Rod

Many analysts are carefully watching GameStop Corp’s (NYSE:GME) closest overseas equivalent, Game Group PLC (LON:GMG), in order to form an opinion on the future of GameStop.  Game Group’s management has not been able to keep up with GameStop’s management success, as Game Group has failed to corner the British market on small boutiqu...

Gamestop Inc. Has Favorable Trends Based On Available November Sales ... -12/07/09 at 9:55 AM CSTby Joe Matty

As we approach the dissemination of November NPD data, let's look into VGCharts sales number estimates. It may help prepare us for what's coming for GameStop (NASDAQ:GME). Part I - November Numbers (1st 3 weeks of 2009 vs. 1st 3 weeks of 2008) + Analysis Below are my findings in three comparisons (Top 20 games, Top 10, Bottom 10 of top 20). Sum of Top 2...

Strauss Zelnick: No Regrets, No Responsibility, Take Two -12/04/09 at 12:06 AM CSTby Perry Rod

Take Two Interactive's [NASDAQ:TTWO] Strauss Zelnick has done it again.  In July, I profiled Mr. Zelnick, a man who brags about having no regrets and taking no responsibility for his many failures at Take Two. Today, despite being "proud" of sales of titles such as Borderlands and Take Two's NBA title, Mr. Zelnick specifically pointed out that he wa...

Credit Suisse Analyst Raises Outlook on Gamestop Inc. -11/25/09 at 9:30 AM CSTby Perry Rod

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter, who earlier this year raised alarm about Gamestop Inc. (NYSE:GME) when Amazon Inc (AMZN) announced a move into the used game business, is now raising his outlook for Gamestop's fiscal year ending in January.  Balter raised his 2009 earnings per share estimate from $2.46 to $2.54 and his 2010 estimate from $2.70 to $...

A Tale of Two Company Blockbuster Franchises: Activision Blizzard's C... -11/23/09 at 3:28 PM CSTby Perry Rod

Activision Blizzard’s (NASDAQ: ATVI) Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 recently dethroned Take Two Interactive's (NASDAQ: TTWO) Grand Theft Auto 4 for having the biggest opening week worldwide of any video game in history.  One glaring difference between the business models behind the two franchises is that one comes out with a core sequel each yea...

Gamestop Inc. CEO Suggests 2010 Growth Modeling Expectations Are High... -11/19/09 at 10:18 AM CSTby Perry Rod

In response to a question about possibly having another 20% year over year software growth year as seen for the company in 2008, Gamestop (NASDAQ: GME) CEO Dan DeMatteo said in a conference call with analysts that Gamestop's early expectations for 2010 growth is not for 20% but rather for "strog single digits to maybe low double digit growth." Analysts e...

Outrageous: Electronic Arts Inc CEO Riccitello Buys His Own Company a... -11/17/09 at 3:33 PM CSTby Perry Rod

What is it about greedy video game publisher executives? Just two years ago at Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), with only eight months on the job as Chief Executive Officer, John Riccitello announced a buyout of Pandemic and Bioware studios from his former firm Elevation Partners, of which he was one of the founders.  The purchase price looked astrono...

NPD Results Delayed for Gamestop Corp, Activision, Take Two Interacti... -10/15/09 at 5:27 PM CDTby Mahyar Hashemi

Video game investors will have to wait a couple more business days to see September's NPD results for video game software and hardware sales.  "We have just released a communication to our clients, explaining that, due to last minute processing requirements, the NPD Video Games Retail Tracking information for September 2009 will now be released on Mo...