For investors in meme stocks, there doesn’t need to be much of a catalyst for excitement to build. Indeed, long-term investors in GameStop (NYSE:GME) have another catalyst on the horizon. However, shares of GME stock are down around 2% at the time of writing.
The upcoming midnight release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will shake up the world of gaming. Everyone — from Zelda enthusiasts to new gamers looking to see what all the buzz is about — is excited. Stories of gamers taking the day off are proliferating as this game becomes the latest mainstream craze to hit the market.
For GameStop, a company that earns the majority of its revenue from selling popular video games, this release could be the catalyst investors needed to consider the stock. After all, the company’s recent earnings report proved that this brick-and-mortar video game retailer could produce profits. Accordingly, with users able to acquire this latest Zelda title for only $20 (via two trade-ins at a GameStop), it’s unclear just how much foot traffic GameStop stores will see.
Let’s dive into whether this Zelda release is all it’s being made out to be by the GameStop community.
Is GME Stock Worth a Buy On This Big Release?
GameStop’s return to focusing on its brick-and-mortar retail locations has produced some impressive results of late. Accordingly, like other beaten-down sectors (such as movie theaters), all it can take is one good release to bring significant revenue (and therefore profitability) to investors.
The era of buying video games in person, and trading away old titles, isn’t quite over. There’s still a niche for GameStop, particularly for those looking to get early access to specific games or trade in games that have been collecting dust.
Indeed, it appears this latest Zelda release is something GME investors will be paying close attention to. Whether this will materially affect the company or not remains to be seen. (And personally, I’m skeptical.) However, any sort of near-term catalyst will be fun to watch. I’ll just be doing so from the safety of the sidelines.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
