GameStop (NYSE:GME) predictably delivered weaker-than-expected financial results for the second quarter of 2022 amid a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. However, the sentiment around the stock has been salvaged by the surprise announcement of a partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. For Q2 2022, GameStop has reported $1.136 billion in sales, missing consensus expectations by around $130 million. The company’s Collectibles segment proved to be a bright spot, however, as it recorded sales of $223.2 million, up from $177.2 million recorded in Q2 2021. The biggest earnings highlight, however, pertained to GameStop’s surprise announcement of a partnership with FTX. While elaborating on the raison d’être behind this move, the company noted: While the financial terms of this deal have not been disclosed, GameStop did note that it would serve as FTX’s “preferred retail partner” in the United States throughout the term of this collaboration. Bear in mind that GameStop officially launched its NFT marketplace in July 2022. The platform is built on Loopring’s technology and harnesses the ability of Immutable X – an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) solution – to allow for the minting and trading of NFTs in a “carbon-neutral” and zero-fee environment. In order to attract NFT creators, GameStop has created a $100 million fund that is denominated in Immutable X’s IMX tokens. Eventually, the company aims to host billions of low-cost, in-game digital assets and NFTs, including digital real estate and in-game skins, thereby creating a sizable new source for revenue generation. GameStop charges a 2.25 percent fee on all NFT sales. However, with global NFT sales hitting a nadir in recent weeks, some analysts continue to contend that the peak growth phase for this asset class is over, rendering GameStop’s move into this segment at this late stage in a less-than-stellar light. Nonetheless, the FTX partnership news has been sufficient in reviving the animal spirits in GameStop shares. As an illustration, the stock is currently up around 10 percent in after-hours trading.
