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Cohen became an activist investor, targeting out-of-favor, established businesses with strong financial histories, leading to his initial passive investment in GameStop around 2020.
GameStop, facing bankruptcy and deemed non-essential during COVID, attracted Cohen due to its underdog status and heavy short interest, filing a 13D to signal engagement.
Upon becoming CEO, Cohen realized the Chewy playbook was ill-suited for GameStop, pivoting to aggressive cost-cutting, efficiency, and leveraging the pre-owned and collectibles categories.
GameStop's Q1 revenue reached $835 million, with collectibles accounting for 42% of sales, supported by 14% year-over-year growth and a reduction in SG&A.
GameStop holds $9.7 billion in cash and generated $33 million in free cash flow, with its board authorizing a share repurchase program.
Cohen believes eBay and GameStop are complementary in secondary markets and collectibles, noting eBay's global scale and his own comfort with e-commerce operations.
Cohen aims to leverage GameStop's 1,600 retail stores as studios and fulfillment centers to support eBay's live commerce and digital collectibles initiatives.
Jason Calacanis theorizes that media criticism of Cohen and GameStop stems from their reluctance to admit their initial 'meme stock' assessment was incorrect.