GameStop sees slight drop in 3Q earnings

GRAPEVINE, Texas GameStop reported that third quarter net sales increased 5.2% to $1.7 billion in the third quarter, compared to $1.6 billion in the prior year quarter. Comparable-store sales decreased 1.8% during the third quarter due primarily to the difficult comparison to the "Halo 3" launch, the largest in GameStop’s history, in the prior year quarter when comparable-store sales increased 46.3%.

Net earnings for the third quarter of 2008 were $46.7 million, as compared to net earnings of $52 million for the third quarter of 2007. Diluted earnings per share were 28 cents, as compared to 31 cents in the prior year quarter.

Daniel DeMatteo, ceo, stated, “Despite the dramatic decline of the global economy and its severe impact on the entire retail industry, GameStop had a strong quarter. Sales have been very robust over the last several weeks, driven by strong new title releases such as Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and Microsoft’s Gears of War 2. We believe that video games provide real entertainment value to consumers in these trying economic times and will be sought out gift purchases for the holiday season.”