MW GameStop is hungry for relevance. Is buying eBay the answer?
By Bill Peters
GameStop is reportedly interesting in buying eBay, which has done a better job of adapting to changing consumer preferences
Shares of both GameStop and eBay rallied late Friday.
Over the last decade, videogame retailer and original meme stock GameStop has struggled to contend with the dominance of online gaming, and its sales have declined. To turn things around, management is reportedly looking to join forces with a far bigger company: eBay.
On Sunday, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told the Wall Street Journal that he was making an unsolicited $56 billion offer to buy eBay, and that if the deal is rejected he's prepared to take a proxy fight to shareholders. Details of the offer were expected to be released Sunday night.
Shares of both companies jumped in the extended session Friday after the Journal first reported that GameStop $(GME)$ was planning to make an offer to acquire eBay $(EBAY)$.
The videogame retailer has already been building a stake in the e-commerce platform, the Journal said Friday. Cohen told the Journal on Sunday that he thinks eBay is undervalued, saying "I'm thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars."
Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment. Shares of eBay rose nearly 12% in after-hours trading Friday, while GameStop's shares rose 4%.
Bernstein analyst Nikhil Devnani questioned the merits of a deal. "There is obviously some overlap in segments (and likely audience) across games, toys, and collectibles," he wrote in a note to clients. "That said, eBay operates at a far bigger scale with a more diversified business."
He's unclear what GameStop would have to offer eBay from a strategic perspective.
Any potential move, the Journal noted, would come as Cohen sets his sights on expanding the company's market valuation to at least $100 billion. He could make up to $35 billion in stock compensation if GameStop's value reaches that $100 billion figure and other targets are hit, the Journal said.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, GameStop currently has a market capitalization of $11.2 billion, while eBay's stands at around $46 billion.
EBay is at least on a better sales trajectory than GameStop: Its revenue was up 19% in its most recently reported quarter relative to a year before, while GameStop's fell 14%. The online marketplace has done a better job of reinventing its business by pushing into artificial intelligence, buying fashion site Depop and embracing collectibles.
Shares of eBay are up 48% over the past 12 months, although it recently announced a round of layoffs.
GameStop's stock is essentially flat over the past 12 months.
-Bill Peters
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 03, 2026 19:19 ET (23:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
