GameStop 3Q Profit Drops

Grapevine, Texas GameStop Corp. reported that net income for its three months ended Nov. 1 slipped to $46.7 million from $52 million in the year-ago period.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude items such as restructuring and merger costs, rose 21% to $63.3 million.

Sales of new games such as "Madden NFL 2009" and "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" pushed overall sales 5% higher to $1.66 billion from $1.61 billion in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales slid 1.8% from last year, when sales of "Halo 3" boosted results.

The company said same-store sales rose 11% in October and added 20.5% in the first two weeks of November.

The company cut its full-year and fourth-quarter earnings targets because of weakness in consumer spending.