GameStop's New Stock Split

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GameStop's New Stock Split

Shares of GameStop (NYSE: GME) jumped 16.82% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the video game retailer announced that it would institute a stock split.

Details: The plan calls for the number of authorized GameStop shares to increase from 300,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 in the form of a stock dividend, according to a filing to the SEC. This will “provide flexibility for future corporate needs.” Board approval will be needed for this stock split to pass.

Background: Several companies have employed stock splits recently to entice new investor interest, including Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).

History: GameStop reached an all-time high stock price last year as part of the meme stock phenomenon. Since then, shares have been all over the place. The stock has been down almost 6% in the past six months but it is up 39% in the past 30 days.

Final Thoughts: The stock split might lure in some more investors, but the fundamentals of GameStop  - good and bad - are still the same.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: Adverum Biotechnologies (Nasdaq: ADVM), Array Technologies (Nasdaq: ARRY).

Notable IPOs Today: First Merchants Corporation Depository Shares (Nasdaq: FRMEP), Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: SVIIU), Iveda Solutions, Inc. Common Stock (Nasdaq: IVDA), Evergreen Corporation Class A Ordinary Share (Nasdaq: EVGR), Swvl Holdings Corp Class A Common Shares (Nasdaq: SWVL), Metal Sky Star Acquisition Corporation Unit (Nasdaq: MSSAU), Embrace Change Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: EMCGU), Counter Press Acquisition Corporation Class A Ordinary Share (Nasdaq: CPAQ), Expion360 Inc. Common Stock (Nasdaq: XPON), byNordic Acquisition Corporation Class A Common Stock (Nasdaq: BYNO).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: Cabo Vegan (MainVest), FreMon Scientific (Netcapital), Launchspace Technologies (Netcapital), BioEclipse Therapeutics (Netcapital), Moxi on the Rocks (MainVest), Eco Allies (Netcapital), Engineurix (Netcapital), Bold Conscious Leaders (Netcapital), Revohloo (Netcapital), Commongrounds Cooperative (MainVest), Stage (Netcapital).

Notable Economic Events Today: Unemployment Rate (8:30 a.m. ET), Nonfarm Payrolls (8:30 a.m. ET), Participation Rate (8:30 a.m. ET), Average Hourly Earnings (8:30 a.m. ET), Manufacturing PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), ISM Manufacturing (10:00 a.m. ET).

Where Equity Crowdfunding Stands Now

Online private market ratings and analytics provider KingsCrowd recently released its annual report about equity crowdfunding. Here are some of the findings from the report.

In 3 Years: In 2018, $75.8 million went into equity crowdfunding through 643 deals. In 2021, retail investors put in $486.8 million through 1,448 deals.

Unsuccessful: About 10% of all equity-based crowdfunding campaigns were unsuccessful last year, but debt-based funding rounds had an unsuccessful rate of 32%.

Sectors: Media, entertainment, publishing, financial, and insurance were the top industries that received investments through equity crowdfunding in 2021.

Final Thoughts: Looking ahead, KingCrowd sees the equity crowdfunding industry growing by 50% over the next three years.

An Inverted Yield Curve Isn’t a Perfect Predictor

While an inverted yield curve is often regarded as a solid predictor of a future economic downturn, it is far from perfect.

Definition: A inverted yield curve refers to when long-term yields fall below short-term yields for bonds.

Context: While this is usually a historic indicator of a recession, it needs to invert for several months to really signal that. We’re not there yet.

Timing: Also, an inverted yield curve does not mean a recession is right around the corner. It could take months - years - before a recession arrives.

Final Thoughts: Keep an eye on the yield curve, but don’t expect a stock market crash right now. After all, the job market is still robust.

Trends to Watch

Trouble: U.S. Probes Meeting Between Activision CEO and Option Buyer (The Wall Street Journal)

Bringing Down the House: Mortgage rates climb above 4.6% (CNN)

Attention Investors: Kohl’s calls on shareholders to reject activist Macellum’s proposal ahead of annual meeting (CNBC)

20%: One in 5 adults has invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency (NBC News)

Less Active: Retail Investors Are Dropping Out of the Stock Market (Barron’s)

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