GameStop’s second quarter financial report shows drop in sales

GameStop last week released its financial report for FY2019’s Q2, ending August 4 – growth in hardware and accessories is the takeaway, with results tracking pretty much as expected for the gaming retailer.

Outside of the inside of its shops, GameStop brass revealed it was looking at options for third-parties ‘regarding a possible transaction’ – that being, to sell the company. No further details were offered in the report, but discussions are being sought out proactively, it seems.

Total global sales for GameStop decreased by 2.4 per cent, in line with expectations, down to $1.65 billion (£1.28bn). The particular albatross in this regard was software sales – down 18.5 per cent for new titles, thanks to there being not many notable huge releases, and a fall of 9.9 per cent for used game sales. Seems they didn’t kill the games industry, who woulda thunk it?

Hardware sales, however, were driven to a growth spurt of some 20.1 per cent thanks to the Xbox One X making its way through its launch period and picking up new owners, while the Switch and PS4 continued to enjoy strong numbers.

Digital receipts rose 15.3 per cent to $255.9 million (£198m), while sales of collectibles rose 15.7 per cent to $141.7 million (£109.5m). While the latter is put down to an increase in licensed merchandising offerings, there’s little doubt Funko Pops make up about 99.9 per cent of that cash. Alright, that’s just a guess.

The company’s future projections remain unchanged from previous guidance, with the expectation being a decrease in total sales of between two and six per cent, with in-store sales specifically going from a five per cent drop to remaining flat year-on-year.