What happened
Shares of video game retailer GameStop (GME 0.97%) jumped almost 17% Monday morning after it released holiday sales data and announced an agreement with activist investor RC Ventures.
As of 10:30 a.m. EST today, shares had settled back to 9% above Friday's closing price.
So what
GameStop has been struggling to turn its business around as consumers converted to online channels for video game purchases. Store closures during the pandemic accelerated the retailer's need to transform its business, and results from the 2020 holiday period show that the transformation may be taking hold.
During the nine-week holiday period, comparable-store sales grew 4.8%, and e-commerce sales soared more than 300%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Also today, GameStop announced the agreement with RC Ventures, giving one of its largest shareholders three new seats on the board of directors.
Now what
GameStop's focus on developing its e-commerce sales channels began to help the stock's performance in recent months. Shares are up 350% since July 2020.
While total sales still declined 3.1% in the nine-week holiday period, the results were affected by planned store closures as well as presumably short-term impacts from the pandemic.
The comps growth marked a significant improvement over results from the company's third quarter, and investors are rewarding the company today. The agreement with RC Ventures to expand the board of directors to accommodate three new directors was made to bring experience in "e-commerce, online marketing, finance and strategic planning to GameStop," the company said in a statement.
Indications are the company's turnaround plans are taking shape, and shareholders are getting on board today.
