Shares of GameStop Corp. GME,
fell 9.7% in premarket trading on Monday after the consumer video and consumer electronics retailer announced plans to sell up to 3.5 million shares of its common stock. The company intends to use the proceeds of the “market” offer, which represents approximately 5% of the outstanding shares, to accelerate its transformation, for general corporate purposes and to strengthen its balance sheet. Separately, GameStop said total sales for the first nine weeks through April 4 rose 11% from the same period last year, including a 5.3% increase in February and an 18% increase in March. GameStop said sales were adversely affected by the temporary closure of stores and other restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a 13% drop in the store base over the same period a year ago. The withdrawal of the stock comes after increasing by 5.8% last week, to trigger a two-week decline of 31.6%. Over the past three months, the stock has risen 1,002.2% to last week, while the S&P 500 SPX,
gained 7.9%.