GameStop plans to sell up to 3.5 million shares

GameStop (NYSE: GME) disclosed plans to sell up to 3.5 million shares via a secondary public offering.

Why it matters: It reflects how GameStop has morphed from a passive player in the Reddit revolt to a fully-engaged participant, using its soaring stock price as predicate to restructure management, strategy and finances.

Market reax: That sound after the ghost gets Pac-Man. GameStop shares fell as much as 16% on the news in premarket trading, and opened down 10.3%.

• The company says it could raise up to $1 billion in the offering, but 3.5 million shares works out to $601 million at today's opening price.

The bottom line: "The Grapevine, Texas-based company said its sales grew roughly 11% for the nine weeks ended April 3 from the comparable period a year earlier, when its operations took a hit from temporary store closures at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic. GameStop had roughly 13% fewer stores this year than the year prior." — Dave Sebastian, WSJ