GameStop lost $26.2 million at the operating line in fiscal 2024. A year later it made $232.1 million. That swing, reported in the company’s results for the year ended January 31, 2026, is the clearest measure of what Ryan Cohen has done since he took over as chief executive.
Cohen came to the retailer by way of Chewy, the pet products platform he formed and sold. He joined the GameStop board in 2021 and moved into the top job in 2023. The Motley Fool says his turnaround went far enough that the company became the poster child of the meme stock frenzy earlier this decade.
Cutting costs while sales shrank
The profit did not come from growth. Net sales slipped to $3.630 billion in fiscal 2025 from $3.823 billion the year before. What changed was the cost line. Selling, general and administrative expenses fell to $910.2 million, down from $1.130 billion.
Net income reached $418.4 million, against $131.3 million in fiscal 2024. The fourth quarter alone brought in $127.9 million in net income, slightly under the $131.3 million of the prior year’s quarter, though operating income for the quarter rose to $135.2 million from $79.8 million. Quarterly net sales were $1.104 billion, down from $1.283 billion.
The balance sheet looks very different too. GameStop closed the year with $9.0 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, compared with $4.8 billion twelve months earlier. It also held bitcoin and related receivables valued at $368.4 million.
Cards, collectibles and an eBay bid
Under Cohen the company has leaned into trading cards and collectibles next to its video game business. Brendan Coffey wrote in the Fool that the move is paying off: net income jumped 77% in the second quarter, with revenue up sharply as well. Coffey also linked the strategy to GameStop’s unsolicited bid for eBay, which he said did not come out of left field.
GameStop’s own filing is blunter about the exposure. Among its stated risks are a dependence on holiday-season sales and on the popularity of trading cards, and the fact that it is highly dependent on Cohen himself.
The chairman buys more
On September 21, 2026, Cohen bought 1,200,000 shares at a weighted average price of $22.94, a total of $26.4 million, according to an SEC Form 4 filing. His direct holding rose to 40,498,522 shares, or 9% of the company, worth $921.75 million at that day’s close of $22.76. The stock had returned negative 13% over the previous year.
GameStop’s market capitalization stood at $10.3 billion, with trailing twelve-month revenue of $3.6 billion and net income of $893.3 million. Coffey called the purchase a bullish signal, reasoning that an insider has only one reason to buy: the belief that the price will rise.
Sources
- GameStop Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results (company release)
- Billionaire GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Buys 1.2 Million Shares for $26.4 Million. Is GME Now a Buy? | The Motley Fool
