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GameStop is struggling with declining physical sales of video games.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
GameStop shares rose sharply on Thursday after Ryan Cohen was elected president and CEO. It’s another bet that the activist investor can regain control of the video game retailer’s faltering fortunes.
Shares of GameStop (ticker: GME) rose 9.8% to $18.83 in premarket trading. The company said its board elected Cohen as CEO and president, effective immediately. He receives no compensation for the role.
Cohen became GameStop’s chairman in June after ousting former CEO Matt Furlong, who had pursued a cost-cutting strategy.
Since then, the company posted a narrower quarterly loss, boosting shares. However, they remain far from the heights reached during the meme stock frenzy of 2021.
Only a few analysts are still monitoring the stock. Wedbush’s Michael Pachter has a $6 price target on GameStop and an Underperform rating, and argued back in June that GameStop will struggle to cut costs quickly enough to stem its losses.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]