GameStop holiday sales jump 11%
Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X drive hardware sales up 38%; used game sales down 8% as customer spending shifts to new games, collectibles
GameStop got what it wanted this holiday season. The company today reported results for the nine-week holiday period ended December 30, showing sales up 10.6% year-over-year to $2.77 billion.
"We are pleased with our sales performance during the important holiday period, driven by strength in the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One X, and a solid increase in our collectibles business," GameStop interim CEO Dan DeMatteo said. "Our results demonstrate our customers' enthusiastic response to new products and our ability to execute on strategically targeted promotions."
The Switch and Xbox One X helped push new hardware sales up 38.3%, while new game sales rose 7.3% year-over-year, an increase attributed to Call of Duty: World War II and Switch titles. (Last year's Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare under-performed expectations, and this was the Switch's first holiday sales period.) The Switch was also cited as a major factor for accessory sales, which jumped 33.7% over last year's holiday season. As for the company's diversification into gaming adjacent businesses, the collectibles segment grew 19.4% to $211.3 million, largely accounted for by clothes and toys.
However, not every part of GameStop's business was booming. Used game sales were down 8.1% year-over-year "as customers shifted their spend to compelling new video game and collectibles products," and the company's technology brands division was down 18.6 percent due to limited supplies of the iPhone X and changes AT&T made to the way it compensates partner stores.