GameStop, a company known for its stock being called a ‘meme stock’, announced that it intends to launch its forthcoming non-fungible token (NFT) platform by the end of Q2 2022. The firm announced its plans in its Q4 2021 earnings call on Wednesday and included the plans in its 10-K disclosure filing as part of “new growth opportunities.”
The filing stated, “As we scale and expand our core offerings we will simultaneously invest in additional growth, including blockchain, digital assets (including non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), Web 3.0 technology, and new destination formats for our stores.”
GameStop partnered with Immutable X in January 2022, to build out the NFT marketplace. Digital Worlds plans to grant up to $100 million in IMX tokens to NFT creators and up to $150 million to GameStop itself as it meets certain milestones, according to the terms of the deal.
What you should know
- Immutable X is an Ethereum Layer 2 network for NFTs built with StarkWare’s ZK-rollup technology, which purports increased scalability and lower gas fees.
- GameStop generated net sales of $2.254 billion for the quarter, compared to $2.122 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing a 6.22% increase.
- For the full year, the firm generated net sales of $6.011 billion for the fiscal year, compared to $5.090 billion for fiscal year 2020, representing a 18.09% increase.
- The firm looks to be financially healthy as it raised more than $1.67 billion in capital and eliminated all of the Company’s long-term debt, other than a $44.6 million low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.
- The firm ended the year with $1.271 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $915 million in inventory, compared to $635.0 million in cash and cash equivalents and $602.5 million in inventory at the end of fiscal year 2020.
- Despite increase in net sales, GameStop still posted a net loss of $381.3 million for year, majorly attributable to its selling, general and administrative expenses, which stood at $1.7 billion for the period.
The firm touts to have established new and expanded brand relationships, including with PC gaming companies such as Alienware, Corsair and Lenovo, that contributed to sales growth in the quarter. The firm also mentions that it grew PowerUp Rewards to Pro members by 32% on a year-over-year basis, taking total membership to approximately 5.8 million.
GME, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, ended the last trading session at $87.70. However, the stock is down 8.04% as of the time of this writing in pre-market skirmish.