GameStop (GME) shares traded firmly lower Friday after the video game retailer fired its CFO, Michael Recupero, amid reports of wider staffing cuts less than twenty-four hours after it unveiled a four-for-one stock split.
GameStop's chief accounting officer, Diana Saadeh-Jajeh, will replace Recupero, the company said in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing, while Axios reported that the group is also set to lay off a large but undetermined number of staff.
Recupero, who was appointed by GameStop chairman and former Chewy.com (CHWY) founder Ryan Cohen in June of last year, earned just over $11 million in total compensation in 2021 working for GameStop, according to SEC filings.
GameStop, which is hoping to transition from a reliance on brick-and-mortar sales to a larger and more dynamic presence online, said revenues for the three months ending in April rose 8.1% from last year to $1.38 billion, with around half of that total coming from its digital channels.
CEO Matt Furlong said at the time that GameStop will pursue "pursue sustained sales growth, establish broader offerings in consumer electronics, and launch new products aligned to the long-term future of gaming."
GameStop also repeated it plans to launch a market for so-called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, related to its video game products, following a tie-up earlier this year with Australian blockchain startup ImmutableX. GameStop said it booked $76.9 million in digital asset sales from the IMX partnership.
The group still posted a loss of $2.08 per share, however, and decline to take questions from analysts -- as has been the case for several quarters -- on its regular post-earnings conference call.
It's also planning a four-for-one stock split, set to take effect on July 22, that will see shareholders will receive a three-stock dividend for each share they own after the close of trading on July 21
GameStop shares were marked 3.2% lower in Friday trading to change hands at $130.80each.
Short interest in GameStop has eased over the past week, partly-linked ot yesterday's post-split rally, with data from S3 Partners showing just over $1.56 billion in bets against the group, a figure that represents around 13.26 million shares, or 21% of the stock's outstanding float.
Shorts have booked around $121 million in year-to-date losses betting against GameStop, S3 Partners data suggests, including $235 million during yesterday's 15% surge.
