Today, GameStop announced their financial earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2010, ending on May 1, 2010. Total revenue increased 5.1%, rising to $2.08 billion, versus $1.98 billion for the same period last year. Net profit for the first quarter totaled $75.2 million, a 6.8% gain on last year’s $70.4 million.
Store sales overall were down 1.6% due to “a decline in hardware price points and hardware supply constraints.” New video games sales made up for it, increasing 13.3% year-over-year. The top sellers list was primarily comprised of large franchise sequels, including Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold, and Bioshock 2.
"I am pleased that our earnings have achieved the high end of guidance and total company sales have exceeded $2 billion for the first time in a non-holiday quarter,” said Daniel DeMatteo, GameStop's Chief Executive Officer. “By maintaining a sharp focus on our customer needs and overall business execution, our strong brick and mortar business continues to provide the capital needed to invest in new stores as well as execute our strategic plan to incorporate digital gaming into our global operations.”
"The in-store Legends of Zork test proved highly successful in economically acquiring and converting our customers to browser game players. Additionally, at the end of this month, GameStop will be marketing and selling downloadable content in a group of test stores. Of equal importance, our new customer loyalty program will launch in select markets. Altogether, we continue to deliver a superior shopping experience and are introducing our customers to the digital options for gaming,” he added.
Despite publishers aiming to shrink their market, and developers deriding their entire business model, GameStop still believes in the used game market. “Our unique buy-sell-trade model continues to provide a strong value proposition for new game buyers," said Paul Raines, Chief Operating Officer.
