Wal-Mart (WMT -0.39%) has always been a place to get cheap products, but now it wants to get even cheaper for diehard gamers. The world's largest retailer announced this week that it will begin accepting used video games as trade-ins that can be exchange for store credit. Later this year the discounter will begin selling the refurbished games at its stores.
This isn't welcome news for video-game developers and publishers. They don't cash in on a resale, and Wal-Mart's deal-seeking shoppers will encourage more gamers to buy secondhand wares.
One stock that took Wal-Mart's announcement even harder than the publishers was GameStop (GME 0.65%). Selling used games and gear has become a lucrative business for the video game retailer, even though sales have been declining for the past two years. This obviously isn't going to be good news for GameStop, especially if Wal-Mart is aggressive in what it offers gamers on trade-ins and what it sells them for the second time around.
Briefly in the news
And now let's look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Darden Restaurants (DRI 0.44%) can't seem to get its marquee concepts on tracks. The company posted another sharp decline in profitability as Olive Garden and Red Lobster suffered another slide in quarterly comps. Darden's already looking to unload Red Lobster, but that only means Olive Garden will have to carry more of the load until Darden's younger concepts grow to the point where they can move the needle.
- FedEx (FDX 0.28%) didn't deliver the goods on either end of the income statement. The parcel delivery specialist posted quarterly results in which both revenue and earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations.
- Tesla Motors (TSLA -1.37%) got a downgrade this week, from "buy" to "hold," from Deutsche Bank. The analyst is offering up a target range between $200 and $220.
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