GameStop Corp.’s stock rose 1% in premarket trades Monday as the video game retailer and sometime meme stock darling continued its snapback following the leadership changes that saw activist investor Ryan Cohen elected as executive chairman.
Shares of the company ended Friday’s session up 5.8%, outpacing the S&P 500 index’s
SPX,
gain of 0.1%. GameStop’s
GME,
stock ended Thursday’s session down 17.9%, its worst one-day performance since dropping 27.2% on June 10, 2021. The shares had plunged in Wednesday’s after-hours session after GameStop announced the firing of Chief Executive Matthew Furlong and Cohen’s election as executive chairman. GameStop did not disclose a reason for Furlong’s firing in the press release that announced the changes.
Cohen’s responsibilities will include capital allocation and overseeing management, according to the press release.
Related: GameStop fires CEO, elects Ryan Cohen as executive chairman; stock plunges
Shortly after the announcement, Cohen tweeted, “Not for long.”
Cohen, the co-founder and former CEO of Chewy Inc.
CHWY,
made his first investment in GameStop in August 2020 via his investment firm RC Ventures. News of Cohen’s 9% stake in the gaming retailer sent its stock surging. The activist investor quickly began pushing for an overhaul of GameStop, with a focus on digital sales, and he joined the company’s board in January 2021. He consolidated his power at GameStop when he became the company’s chairman in June 2021.
GameStop’s stock, which had hit an all-time low of 64 cents on April 3, 2020, rocketed to an all-time high of $120.75 on Jan. 28, 2021, amid the meme-stocks frenzy.
Related: GameStop stock surges after Chewy co-founder takes 9% stake
The stock has risen 22.9% in 2023, compared with the S&P 500’s gain of 12%.
Additional reporting by Bill Peters.
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