GameStop (GME) fourth-quarter earnings surge on higher sales

Posted Mar 18th 2008 2:24PM by Eliza Popescu
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Good news

Despite a tumbling economy where recession fears gain ground each day, video games demand is rising for at least one retailer. The good times are rolling for GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), which reported this morning that its fourth-quarter profit jumped 46%.

GameStop's quarterly profit rose up to $189.8 million, or $1.14 per share, compared with $129.8 million, or 81 cents per share in the same period last year. Analysts, on average, were waiting for the company show earnings of $1.12 per share for the quarter.

Taking a look at the company's quarterly revenue, we see a growth of 24% to $2.9 million. For this period, the retailer counted strong sales for its Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4 video games. Quarterly sales numbers matched analysts' predictions, according to Thomson Financial.

Looking ahead, GameStop showed optimism over its further earnings. Despite a weak economy, the retailer said it aims to hit a target of 25% growth for its January 2010 earnings per share. The company also forecast first quarter and full year earnings above analysts' predictions.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.

Tags: earnings, forecast, GameStop, gme, inthenews, video games, VideoGames