GameStop Confirms Plans to Invest in Bitcoin. The Stock Is Climbing.

Videogame seller and meme stock GameStop said its board approved adding Bitcoin as an investment.

The company announced its board unanimously approved an update to its investment policy to add Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. In a filing, it said “a portion of our cash or future debt and equity issuances may be invested in Bitcoin” and that it had not set a maximum on the amount of Bitcoin it could accumulate or sell. The move had been the subject of recent speculation as GameStop seeks new sources of growth.

For the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, GameStop reported net sales of $1.28 billion, below the $1.48 billion analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected.

Adjusted earnings of 29 cents a share beat the 8 cents a share analysts expected. Net income of $131.3 million was also above the $33 million expected.

Shares were up 6% in late trading, after closing down 0.8% on Tuesday, at $25.80. Shares traded as low as $24.99 intraday, down 2.4%, the largest intraday percentage decline since March 12, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Analysts and investors have been more interested in updates on the company’s strategic direction than its earnings results, as GameStop faces questions about the profitability of its core business. It has been closing physical stores and expanding beyond videogames amid the continuing shift to digital gaming.

The company said it completed its divestiture in Italy and the wind-down of store operations in Germany.

For the full fiscal year ended Feb. 1, GameStop reported net sales of $3.82 billion, below the $4.02 billion expected.

Net income of $131.3 million and earnings of 33 cents a share both beat analysts’ expectations.

GameStop stock has risen 64% over the past 12 months, in part because of the return of investor Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” who said in a YouTube livestream in June 2024 that he is still a “ believer ” in GameStop. The shares are down 19% this year through Tuesday’s close.

“Roaring Kitty’s” social media posts helped fuel the meme stock frenzy in early 2021, pushing GameStop’s stock to its record high of $86.88 on Jan. 27, 2021.

Michael Pachter, a managing director at Wedbush Securities and former CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software who specializes in the videogame sector, said the company’s recent moves into trading cards was unlikely to be the catalyst that would turn around the core business.

“It is unfathomable that they will ever turn their core business (selling games) around by offering trading cards in their stores,” he told Barron’s in an email. When GameStop announced it was getting into the collectible trading cards business last October, he noted the company’s “utter lack of competitive advantage” in the “wildly fragmented” business.

“The company has once again accelerated store closures in an attempt to save its way to prosperity, and its plans to enter the trading card business and to invest in cryptocurrency are striking in their lack of specificity,” Wedbush analysts led by Pachter wrote in a research note Monday.

They said that GameStop’s entry into trading cards and crypto followed its last two attempts at a turnaround, and that its shares “trade at a level that ignores the company’s many challenges ahead.” They called its entry into cryptocurrency “an unsubtle attempt to emulate the success of MicroStrategy , which trades at less than 2x the value of its Bitcoin holdings.” They reiterated their Underperform rating and their 12-month price target of $10.

“Far more likely, they will continue to slowly liquidate by selling off assets” and by closing stores when their leases expire, Pachter said Monday. “That leaves them with ‘profits’ on investment income from their $4.6 billion cash hoard, which they raised by virtue of their meme stock status.”

GameStop management doesn’t hold conference calls to discuss results, and because few analysts follow the company, the consensus forecast as tracked by FactSet includes just two estimates.

Based in Grapevine, Texas, the company offers games and entertainment products online and in stores in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Pachter noted that GameStop’s stock price, trading around 2.5 times cash, suggests investors have faith in CEO Ryan Cohen’s ability to pick investments for them.

In February, Cohen posted a photo of himself on social media with Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin , apparently helping to fuel the rumors about GameStop’s own crypto ambitions.

“MicroStrategy trades as around twice the value of its Bitcoin holdings, so it remains to be seen if Ryan Cohen can find a better cryptocurrency to invest in and drive GME share to 2.6 times the value of its assets,” Pachter said.

On March 3, GameStop announced a deal with digital financial services company Zip Co. to let U.S. customers pay in installments for their online and in-store gaming purchases.

Zip U.S. CEO Joe Heck said at the time that nearly 84% of Zip’s U.S. customers shop for gaming and accessories at GameStop. “Gaming is one of Zip’s most popular categories overall, making Zip an ideal partner for helping these shoppers responsibly purchase goods and services from one of the industry’s fan-favorites and top businesses.”

Reporting season has once again reminded investors that a strong profit does not guarantee a rising share price, and a large loss does not always trigger a sell-off. What matters most is how each result compares with expectations and, increasingly, what management says about the year ahead. During the August 2026 season, companies offering credible turnarounds or unexpectedly strong guidance were rewarded handsomely, while those flagging weaker margins, slowing demand or greater uncertainty were punished.

The following ranking draws on Morningstar’s review of 164 ASX-listed companies and measures each company’s share-price movement on the day it reported. This captures the market’s immediate response to the earnings announcement, before subsequent economic developments, dividends and company-specific news cloud the picture. Here are the five biggest winners, and the five hardest-hit losers, of the season so far.

The five winners

1. Bapcor (ASX:BAP): +41.0%

Bapcor delivered reporting season’s largest relief rally after presenting early evidence that its troubled automotive-parts business was stabilising. Although underlying revenue fell 1.8% to $1.92 billion and underlying NPAT collapsed 85% to $10.8 million, underlying EBITDA of $152.5 million exceeded guidance.

More importantly, working-capital initiatives released $68.5 million in the second half, lifting cash conversion to 109.4% and reducing net debt by 63% to $135 million. The statutory loss was $431.6 million, largely because of non-cash impairments. Investors focused on improving operational momentum, stronger liquidity and management’s expectation of modest FY27 revenue growth.

2. Zip Co (ASX:ZIP): +18.2%

Zip comfortably surpassed its FY26 targets, sending the buy-now-pay-later provider’s shares sharply higher. Transaction volume rose 23% to $16.7 billion, while cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped 58% to a record $268.9 million. Statutory profit climbed 46% to $116.4 million, and the cash operating margin expanded by 4.2 percentage points to 20%.

The strongest signal was guidance for FY27 cash earnings of $340 million—around 26% growth and above analysts’ forecasts. US transaction volume increased 42.5% and now represents three-quarters of group volume, offsetting weaker customer activity in Australia.

3. CSL (ASX:CSL): +17.3%

CSL’s result was hardly spectacular in isolation, but it cleared a market bar that had fallen dramatically following earlier downgrades and restructuring announcements. Underlying NPATA was US$3.1 billion, down 2% in constant-currency terms, while operating cash flow reached US$3.51 billion.

CSL maintained its full-year dividend at US$2.92 per share and completed a A$1 billion buyback. The real catalyst was FY27 guidance for approximately 5% underlying profit growth, compared with market expectations closer to 2%. After an extended period of earnings disappointments, investors interpreted the outlook as evidence that CSL’s core plasma business was approaching a sustainable recovery.

4. Judo Capital (ASX:JDO): +16.9%

Judo Capital demonstrated strong operating leverage as its specialist business-lending franchise expanded. Full-year profit before tax rose 34% to $168.1 million, while pre-provision profit increased 42%. Gross loans and advances grew 18% to $14.7 billion, reaching the top of the bank’s guidance range and comfortably exceeding broader system growth.

Deposits increased 24% to $12.2 billion, return on equity improved by 1.1 percentage points to 6.4%, and earnings per share rose 29% to 9.9 cents. Reaffirmation of the FY27 outlook gave investors confidence that loan growth could continue without sacrificing margins or credit quality.

5. Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL): +15.8%

The owner of Supercheap Auto, rebel, BCF and Macpac reported record sales of $4.2 billion, up 3.2%, despite cautious discretionary spending. Profitability went backwards: normalised profit before tax fell 7% to $306 million and normalised NPAT declined 2.8% to $226 million as transformation spending weighed on margins. Nevertheless, the result exceeded subdued expectations, online sales grew 5.3% and membership across the group’s loyalty programs reached 13.1 million. Investors were also encouraged by positive early FY27 trading, stable gross margins and continued market-share gains. A fully franked 33-cent final dividend added to the appeal.

The five losers

1. Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN): –21.2%

Hansen’s historic result met expectations, but investors recoiled from its outlook. The utility and communications software provider achieved an underlying EBITDA margin of 31%, exceeding its 30% target, while generating strong cash flow. However, management designated FY27 an “investment and transition year”, signalling a roughly five-percentage-point margin contraction as spending on products, sales capabilities and organisational changes increased.

Revenue had already been broadly flat, leaving investors concerned that the investment program would depress earnings before new growth appeared. Leadership changes, including the chief executive’s departure, added uncertainty. Management expects revenue growth and margins above 30% to return in FY28, but the market was unwilling to wait.

2. Life360 (ASX:360): –19.4%

Life360’s headline growth was impressive: quarterly revenue rose 38% to US$159 million, subscription revenue increased 31%, and adjusted EBITDA climbed 53% to US$31.1 million. Monthly active users reached 102.4 million and paying circles grew 27% to 3.2 million. The sell-off reflected expectations rather than a collapsing business.

Net income fell 18%, the net margin contracted from 6% to 3%, hardware shipments dropped 18%, and full-year EBITDA guidance was merely maintained. After a strong valuation run, investors wanted a larger upgrade and clearer evidence that heavy investment in advertising, international expansion and artificial intelligence would generate additional earnings.

3. PEXA Group (ASX:PXA): –17.0%

PEXA reported a 7% increase in continuing-operations revenue and 12% EBITDA growth to $152 million, accompanied by a two-percentage-point margin expansion. Free cash flow increased 39%, suggesting the core Australian electronic-conveyancing platform remained highly profitable. Investors instead concentrated on management’s warning that property-transfer volumes could decline, alongside regulatory uncertainty surrounding the fees PEXA can charge.

The company is also continuing to invest heavily in its loss-making international expansion. Morningstar considered the market reaction excessive, arguing that structural transfer-volume assumptions had not materially changed, but the combination of softer near-term activity and regulatory risk overwhelmed the respectable headline numbers.

4. SEEK (ASX:SEK): –14.3%

SEEK produced solid FY26 figures, including 10% revenue growth to $1.20 billion, a 15% rise in EBITDA and 28% growth in adjusted earnings per share. It also lifted its fully franked annual dividend by 13% to a record 52 cents. Those achievements were overshadowed by falling paid job-ad volumes and cautious FY27 assumptions.

The statutory accounts included a $201 million loss from the SEEK Growth Fund and $377 million of significant items, making the headline result considerably less attractive. Investors were particularly concerned that economic weakness could limit volumes while the company continued investing in platform integration and artificial-intelligence products.

5. JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH): –12.3%

JB Hi-Fi’s full-year result was broadly respectable, with group sales rising 5% to $11.1 billion and underlying earnings per share increasing 6% to $4.48. The damage came from its current-trading update. Australian sales were almost flat during the June quarter and deteriorated further in July, while earnings in the core Australian electronics business fell 3.6%.

Housing-related categories were particularly weak as higher living costs and interest rates constrained household budgets. With JB Hi-Fi entering the season on a demanding valuation, an in-line historic result was not sufficient: the loss of sales momentum prompted investors to rapidly reduce their expectations for FY27.

Overall, the season showed that share prices react less to whether profits rose or fell than to the gap between results and expectations. Bapcor was rewarded for being less troubled than feared, while several fundamentally profitable companies were punished because their outlooks failed to justify elevated valuations.