GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen reaffirms $56B eBay pursuit, targeting $1T combined company. Alpha Score 32 signals market skepticism. Stores as authentication hubs could reshape e-commerce.
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told Bloomberg TV on Thursday that the company still intends to buy eBay, months after the auction site rejected a $56 billion offer. The pursuit, if it succeeds, would combine a struggling video-game retailer with one of the largest e-commerce marketplaces, creating a company Cohen says could reach $1 trillion in value.
Cohen said the combined company would be 'investment grade' and that he would use GameStop's physical stores as authentication hubs for trading cards, building on eBay's collectibles business. He declined to say whether he would raise the offer. 'We're coming for eBay one way or another,' he said, according to Bloomberg.
GameStop has pledged to cut $2 billion in annual costs within 12 months of closing, largely by slashing eBay's sales and marketing spend. In a letter to eBay, GameStop noted that eBay spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 and added only 1 million net active buyers. The proposed cuts would reduce that spend by roughly half.
EBay's board rejected the offer in May, calling it 'neither credible nor attractive.' The company cited uncertainty over financing and the impact on long-term profitability. GameStop responded by pushing forward: shareholders approved an increase in authorized shares on July 7, giving the company capacity to issue stock for the acquisition.
The market has been skeptical. GameStop stock carries an Alpha Score of 32 out of 100, a 'Weak' rating, reflecting doubts about the company's ability to execute the acquisition or generate value from it. The stock remains volatile, driven more by Cohen's statements than by fundamental earnings.
For the e-commerce sector, the deal represents a potential shift in how physical retail and online marketplaces merge. GameStop's plan to use its stores as authentication centers for high-value collectibles could give eBay a logistical advantage over rivals like Amazon or Etsy in the trading card and memorabilia categories. It would also put pressure on other auction platforms to develop similar physical verification networks. If GameStop's stores become hubs for authenticating collectibles, it could set a precedent for other retailers with large footprints to offer similar services.
GameStop said in a June press release that additional materials regarding the proposed transaction are forthcoming.
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