GameStop earnings up 11% in third quarter
Company sales increase 8% to $1.83 billion
GameStop has reported an 11.8 per cent increase in net earnings for its quarter ending October 31.
Earnings for the period totalled USD 52.2 million compared to USD 46.7 million for the prior quarter, which equated to earnings per share of USD 0.31.
Total company sales also rose to USD 1.83 billion - an increase of 8.2 per cent. Used product sales increased 19.4 per cent on top of the 19.3 per cent increase seen in the third quarter of 2008. New software sales grew 9.4 per cent.
The top five best selling games for the period were Madden NFL 10, Halo 3: ODST, Batman Arkham Asylum, NBA 2K10 and Wii Sports Resort.
"A sharp focus on efficient operations in this challenging global economy delivered solid earnings results and significant market share gain," commented GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo.
"The holiday season has started strong. In the first 72 hours of its release, GameStop sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. We are optimistic that the huge success of this game will serve as a bellwether for what we can expect for the remainder of our holiday game sales."
Based on the strong sales of Modern Warfare 2, as well as New Super Mario Bros and Assassin's Creed 2, the company predicted a solid fourth quarter both in terms of sales and earnings.
Guidance of diluted earnings per share was reaffirmed at between USD 1.47-1.65, compared to USD 1.39 in the prior year period.