GameStop Stock Soars 5% as CEO Ryan Cohen’s Megadeal Eyes $100B Valuation
Ryan Cohen just dropped a bomb—and GameStop's stock is catching the updraft. The CEO's newly announced megadeal promises to catapult the company's valuation to a staggering $100 billion, sending shares rallying 5% in pre-market action. Forget the meme-stock narrative; this is a full-scale corporate reinvention.
The Anatomy of a Megadeal
Details are scarce, but the market's reaction is anything but. A 5% surge on the announcement signals that big money is buying the vision—or at least the volatility. The proposed $100 billion valuation isn't just a number; it's a direct challenge to the legacy retail model Cohen has vowed to disrupt. He's not playing for incremental gains; he's architecting an escape velocity.
From Brick-and-Mortar to Powerhouse
The playbook here is pure Cohen: aggressive, unexpected, and leveraged for maximum impact. This isn't about selling more collectibles. It's a strategic pivot designed to unlock trapped value and completely re-rate the stock. The deal structure, whatever it is, appears engineered to bypass traditional growth timelines—a move that delights fans and gives institutional analysts heartburn.
Why the Street Is Watching
A 5% move is a statement. In a market numbed by algorithmic trading, a single announcement moving the needle that much shows undeniable traction. The $100 billion target acts as a North Star, framing every subsequent earnings report as a progress check. It turns quarterly results into a referendum on the grand strategy.
The market has a long history of betting against transformations—and an even longer history of overpaying for the story once it starts working. For now, the momentum is with Cohen. The stock is up, the ambition is clear, and the ceiling has been shattered. Whether this marks a genius pivot or just another chapter in the volatile saga remains to be seen. After all, on Wall Street, a 'megadeal' is often just a fancy word for a very expensive gamble.
Cohen outlines deal, says GameStop has tools to pull it off
Ryan explained what kind of company he’s looking for. It has to be high quality, durable, and scalable. He thinks it can be made way more efficient. “We’ve got the governance structure, we’ve got the capital, we have the operational expertise,” he said.
He also admitted the whole thing is a bet. “If it works, it’s genius. If it doesn’t work, then, you know, it will be totally, totally foolish.” He added, “We can apply the Chewy and GameStop mindset of like brutal efficiency and increase the profitability very, very quickly.”
Ryan compared what he’s trying to do to Berkshire Hathaway, saying GameStop is trying to create value fast. “It’s similar to Berkshire Hathaway, except what they did in decades we’re attempting to do in a much shorter time.”
The company is pushing toward $100 billion in value, even though it’s only worth about $10.5 billion right now. That’s a huge jump. Some investment bankers doubt it’s even possible. One said, “I’ve never seen it. Unless you’re talking about radically transforming a business model or something, it just doesn’t happen in retail.” Another added, “It’s easy to say something. It’s a lot harder to do it.”
Incentive plan links $100B goal to Cohen’s payout
Back in January, GameStop rolled out a new equity bonus plan just for Ryan. He only gets it if the company hits $100 billion in value and earns $10 billion in total EBITDA. When asked about that, Ryan said, “I hope all shareholders do” benefit, not just him.
Since he took over as CEO in September 2023, Ryan has cut costs, made operations leaner, and pushed the collectibles business harder. Even though sales are still weak, the company’s profit numbers have turned around. From fiscal Q3 2023 to fiscal Q3 2025, gross margin grew by 7 points. Net income hit $77.1 million, up from a $3.1 million loss. For 2024 and 2025, GameStop posted back-to-back annual profits, something it hadn’t done in six years.
The plan isn’t just talk. GameStop has over $9 billion in cash and marketable securities, built up through stock offerings and investments. Some of that money had gone into bitcoin. But now, when asked if the company will sell its bitcoin holdings to pay for the buyout, Ryan said, “I’m not prepared to say,” but added that the new strategy is “way more compelling than bitcoin.”
Investor Michael Burry, famous for betting against the housing bubble, recently said he’s been buying shares.
“Ryan is making lemonade out of lemons,” Burry wrote in a Substack post. “He has a crappy business, and he is milking it best he can while taking advantage of the meme stock phenomenon to raise cash and wait for an opportunity to make a big buy of a real growing cash cow business.”
Ryan says once this deal is done, there could be more. “Eventually we could MOVE on to the next one,” he said. “But, you know, we’ll see what happens.”
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