What happened
Shares of computer audio specialist Turtle Beach (HEAR 2.07%) soared on Friday. Share prices rose as much as 16.8% at noon EST. Three hours later, the stock had backed down to a milder 11.2% gain. Turtle Beach can thank video game retailer GameStop (GME 0.94%) for this sudden surge.
So what
GameStop reported its holiday sales on Friday, showing revenues 5% below the year-ago period but a 29% increase in sales of gaming controllers and headsets. GameStop's shares rose as much as 7.1% on the news, but Turtle Beach skyrocketed on this independent evidence of solid demand for gaming headsets over the holidays.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Owning Turtle Beach shares is not for the faint of heart. Share prices have now surged 700% higher in 52 weeks, but also 40% lower in six months. These days, the stock is tightly related to so-called Battle Royale games such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, where a good audio headset helps players collaborate and survive. These games absolutely ruled the roost in 2018, and GameStop's report points to solid demand for more headsets even now.
Personally, I can't help but wonder how long this trend will last and how many more headsets Turtle Beach can shift before it ends. Today's jump makes sense, but I'm still not a buyer of Turtle Beach (nor of GameStop, for that matter) today.
Check out the latest Turtle Beach and GameStop earnings call transcripts.
