Why Is GameStop Stock Rising Despite a Broader Market Selloff?

GameStop shares surged 3.73% on January 30, 2026, climbing to $23.64 despite broader market weakness, as CEO Ryan Cohen unveiled an audacious plan to transform the struggling video game retailer into a $100 billion juggernaut through major acquisitions. The move caught the attention of legendary investor Michael Burry, who has taken a fresh stake in the company and publicly endorsed Cohen’s strategy.

With approximately $9 billion in cash and liquid securities on its balance sheet, GameStop appears positioned to make a transformative deal that could either vindicate Cohen’s vision or prove spectacularly misguided.

Cohen’s Billion-Dollar Gambit: From Meme Stock to Mega-Cap

Ryan Cohen told The Wall Street Journal he is eyeing a major acquisition of a publicly traded company, likely in the consumer or retail industry where he built his reputation co-founding pet products retailer Chewy.

The 40-year-old billionaire acknowledged the high-stakes nature of his strategy, stating it will be “either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish.” Cohen has already identified a handful of potential targets but declined to name them publicly, saying he plans to approach these companies soon.

The ambitious plan is tied to Cohen’s extraordinary compensation package, adjusted earlier this month to potentially award him up to $35 billion in stock if GameStop reaches a $100 billion market valuation and $10 billion in EBITDA. The award begins vesting when the company hits $20 billion in market value with $2 billion in EBITDA.

Cohen, who now holds over 9% of GameStop and remains its largest individual shareholder, has been steadily buying more shares, including purchases made this month. With GameStop currently valued at around $10.68 billion and holding approximately $9 billion in cash and liquid securities, Cohen believes the company is finally positioned to make bold moves after recent efforts to expand collectibles sales and close underperforming stores.

Cohen gained cult status among retail investors after criticizing GameStop’s slow pivot to e-commerce in late 2020 and joining the board in January 2021 when the company was valued at just over $1 billion. He bristles at the “meme stock” label, telling the Journal it’s “a label people use when they don’t want to do the work” on analyzing a stock.

Despite the massive rally that saw shares peak at $120.75 in January 2021, GameStop has fallen approximately 80% from that high, closing at $22.81 on Thursday before the latest surge.

Join our Telegram group and never miss a breaking digital asset story.

Burry Endorses GameStop’s Acquisition-Driven Pivot

Michael Burry, the doctor-turned-hedge-fund-manager whose prescient bets against subprime mortgages were chronicled in “The Big Short,” has emerged as an unlikely champion of Cohen’s strategy. Burry, who closed his fund last year to launch a paid Substack newsletter, wrote earlier this week that GameStop should follow the Berkshire Hathaway playbook and deploy its massive cash holdings to make transformative acquisitions.

He characterized Cohen as having “a crappy business” but praised him for “milking it best he can while taking advantage of the meme stock phenomenon to raise cash and wait for an opportunity to make a big buy of a real growing cash cow business.”

Burry, now a GameStop shareholder, revealed he recently bought more stock and sees significant upside if Cohen spends $10 billion or more to acquire a quality business, suggesting an insurer with substantial customer premiums to invest as an ideal target.

He also highlighted GameStop’s substantial net operating losses, which could allow the company to offset future taxable income, making it an attractive acquirer for many potential targets. Cohen told the Journal he hasn’t spoken to Burry since at least 2019 but called him “one of the few investors I respect” with “a track record of making prescient early calls.”

The endorsement comes as GameStop continues aggressive cost-cutting measures, with reports indicating 470 confirmed U.S. store closures in early 2026 following 590 closures during the 2024 fiscal year. The company has also exited multiple international markets including Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Italy, and is seeking buyers for its French and Canadian operations.

Despite these challenges, Cohen maintains his conviction: “There are a lot of diamonds in the rough…that have sleepy management teams. I didn’t fix GameStop to stop there.”

GME Stock Rises as Investors Weigh Risk and Reward

As of 10:38 AM EST on January 30, 2026, GameStop shares traded at $23.64, up $0.85 or 3.73% from the previous close of $22.79. The stock opened at $23.29 and reached an intraday high of $24.01 with a trading volume of 3.49 million shares, below its average volume of 6.79 million.

GameStop’s market capitalization stands at approximately $10.55 billion, with a 52-week range of $19.93 to $35.81. The company’s price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76 reflects earnings per share of $0.88, while its negative beta of -1.21 suggests the stock moves inversely to broader market trends.

Year-to-date, GameStop has returned 17.28% compared to the S&P 500’s 1.42% gain, though the stock remains down 15.86% over the past year versus the S&P 500’s 14.36% increase. Over longer timeframes, the picture grows more challenging: GameStop is up just 10.82% over three years compared to the S&P 500’s 72.81% gain, and down a staggering 71.02% over five years versus the index’s 86.93% rise.

Most recent quarterly results showed revenue of $821 million with earnings per share of $0.24, beating the estimate of $0.20. The company maintains no regular dividend, with the last ex-dividend date being March 14, 2019.

Disclaimer: The author does not hold or have a position in any securities discussed in the article. All stock prices were quoted at the time of writing.