GameStop is planning a 4-for-1 share split. The shares are rising.
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GameStop has struggled because more people are downloading video games instead of buying them in stores.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
GameStops
share split finally happens – and the shares skyrocket on the news.
The company announced plans to split the stock four-for-one later this month, and send the shares higher after the market closed on Wednesday. Shareholders registered at the close of business on 18 July will receive three additional shares for each share owned via a dividend. The additional shares will be distributed on 21 July, and
GameStop
(ticker: GME) The stock will start trading on a split-adjusted basis on July 22nd.
GameStop shareholders voted in June to expand the company’s shareholding to one billion from 300 million to facilitate a split. The company said in March that the higher authorization would allow it to implement a split and “provide flexibility for future business needs.”
Shares in GameStop have risen 9% to $ 128 in pre-market trading, although stock splits do not make a company more valuable, given that they are similar to cutting a pie into smaller slices. If GameStop split on the last levels after work, it would trade at $ 30.81.
There are around $ 30 pre-shared price targets. “Make it cheaper for unsuspecting rubes who have not yet lost all their money,” Pachter said Barrons via email when asked about the split.
The stock has traded as high as $ 255.69 over the past 12 months, but it is still significantly up from 2020 levels. Even the potential post-split number is well above where GameStop shares were traded before
Sticky
(CHWY) co-founder Ryan Cohen announced a stake and launched a campaign that started the company’s meme-driven race in January 2021. GameStop shares have fallen 20% in 2022, compared to a 19% fall for
S&P 500
index.
Cohen became chairman of GameStop a year ago. The company has added executives and employees with technology, e-commerce and blockchain backgrounds to help turn things around as the business battles the transition to selling video games online instead of in stores.
Following the board and management, the company invested in satisfaction and customer care, as well as expanding its offering to include more computers and TVs. It also launches a marketplace for non-fungible tokens. Experts, such as Pachter, are skeptical that such blockchain measures will benefit the stock.
Write to Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com