GameStop looks toward NFT marketplace launch after big Q4 loss

The firm also highlighted that the Immutable X NFT marketplace deal is set to fetch the firm $150 million worth of IMX tokens upon the “achievement of certain milestones.”

Much loved retail video game store chain GameStop (GME) is looking ahead to its long-awaited NFT marketplace and Web3 gaming unit after suffering a net loss of $147.5 million during Q4 2021

GameStop quietly built a barebones NFT website in mid-2021 but has significantly ramped up efforts this year after unveiling an NFT and Web3 gaming division in January along with penning a major partnership with Ethereum (ETH) scaling solution Immutable X the following month to build an NFT marketplace.

As part of the Q4 results — ending on January 29 and published on March 17 — GameStop revealed that it intends to launch its NFT marketplace by the end of Q2 2022.

$GME will reportedly open their NFT marketplace at the end of their second quarter 2022.
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The firm also highlighted that the Immutable X deal is set to fetch the firm $150 million worth of IMX tokens upon the “achievement of certain milestones,” and noted that it has hired “dozens of additional individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, e-commerce and technology, product refurbishment and operations.”

GameStop’s net loss of $147.5 million is 83% worse than the year prior, while its loss of $1.94 per share sits well outside of Wall Street’s estimates of $0.84 earnings per share.

The price of GME appears to have been significantly impacted by the publishing of GameStop's Q4 financials, with the price dropping 7.31% sit at around $81.29 at the time of writing. GME has, been on a strong downward trend this year despite positive developments in its Web3 initiatives, with the price dropping more than 40% since the start of January.

Diving into the report a bit further, GameStop posted $2.254 billion worth of sales last quarter, a slight increase on the $2.122 billion a year prior. A major hindrance on the latest figure was the $1.87 billion cost of sales, while selling, general and administrative expenses totaled $538.9 million.

The firm was able to raise more than $1.67 billion in capital which was enough to eliminate “all of the Company’s long-term debt, other than a $44.6 million low-interest, unsecured term loan associated with the French government’s response to COVID-19.”

Despite a bearish trend in the NFT market over the past couple of months, GameStop’s partner Immutable X has gone from strength to strength, the firm announced a $200 million Series C funding round at a $2 billion valuation on March 8, which sent the price of IMX surging roughly 50% within 24 hours to around $1.78. Since then the price has retraced to around $1.54.

Block nets .18B Q4 gross profit marking a 47% YoY increase

Afterpay

In total, Block generated $4.42 billion worth of gross profit in 2021 marking a total YoY growth of 62%, however, net profit totaled just $77 million.

Crypto-friendly digital payments tech firm Block, Inc. (formerly known as Square) posted $1.18 billion worth of gross profit in Q4, representing a growth of 47% over the same period in 2020.

The firm led by Bitcoin maxi Jack Dorsey has multiple business arms including Cash App, Square, and the freshly acquired buy now pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay after the $29 billion deal officially closed at the end of last month.

Block’s 2021 Q4 report was posted on Feb. 24, and the firm revealed significant gross profit increases across Cash App and Square, with each firm generating $518 million and $657 million apiece to mark YoY gains of 37% and 54% respectively.

In total, the company generated $4.42 billion worth of gross profit for the entirety of 2021, marking a YoY growth of 62% compared to 2020. The impressive figures do require a pinch of salt, however, as Block’s net profit after expenses for Q4 tallied just $77 million ($166 million for all of 2021) suggesting hefty operating costs for the firm.

The company pointed to Cash App’s Cash Card and Square’s seller ecosystem as key metrics behind the Q4 growth, noting that the Cash Card saw more than 13 million active users in December with 38% of sellers using four or more Square business products.

Moving forward in 2022, Block also highlighted the significance of the Afterpay deal as it will enable the firm to significantly scale up its offerings and products this year. The firm stated:

“On January 31, we completed our acquisition of Afterpay, a global “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) platform. We believe this acquisition will further Block’s strategic priorities for Square and Cash App by strengthening the connections between our ecosystems as we deliver compelling financial products and services for consumers and merchants.”

Block has been ramping up its presence in the crypto space of late, with Cointelegraph reporting in mid-January that Cash App had integrated the Lightning Network to speed up BTC transfers, while Dorsey confirmed that Block was rolling out open-source Bitcoin mining systems.

After stepping down from Twitter in November, Dorsey is reportedly said to be mainly focused on scaling the Block’s crypto initiatives.

Q4 report