NEW YORK, Feb 2, 2026, 14:53 EST — Regular session
- GameStop shares surged in afternoon trading, building on their recent streak of wild price swings.
- Fresh buzz on social media reignited speculation about a major acquisition.
- Traders await any official company update, such as filings, along with the upcoming earnings date on the calendar.
GameStop shares climbed roughly 8.3% to $25.87 in Monday afternoon trading, lifting the videogame retailer’s market cap as fresh buying momentum kicked in.
The recent jump highlights just how fast sentiment flips once takeover rumors surface. Traders are scrambling to guess what a “major acquisition” might do for a stock that behaves more like a meme play—volatile around headlines and buzz, not fundamentals. TradingView
Charles Payne, Fox Business host, shared on Monday that he wouldn’t be interviewing GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen. According to Benzinga, Payne said Cohen is tied up with something “monumental” and can’t discuss details without “advice of counsel.” The report also quoted Cohen calling the acquisition effort “either going to be genius or totally, totally foolish.” Benzinga
GameStop has pegged Cohen’s potential gains to the company hitting a much larger scale. In a January statement, the board announced a performance-based option grant of 171,537,327 shares to Cohen at an exercise price of $20.66. Vesting depends on GameStop reaching a $100 billion market cap and $10 billion in cumulative performance EBITDA, a profit metric excluding interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Shareholders still need to approve the award at a special meeting slated for March or April 2026, the company said.
Shares of other meme-stock darlings climbed, fueling the speculative momentum. AMC Entertainment ticked up roughly 2.5%, with Koss jumping nearly 6.9%.
GameStop’s core business remains under pressure. The retailer has grappled with the industry’s move to digital downloads and fierce competition from e-commerce giants. Its recent quarterly revenue figures have fallen short of analyst forecasts.
But rallies like this can evaporate quickly if no follow-up news shows up. Without a clear target or concrete terms, the upside remains purely optional, while the downside is straightforward: traders pull back, and the stock’s typical volatility takes over.
Investors are zeroing in on one thing: a formal disclosure, like an SEC filing, that confirms whether an acquisition process is genuine and funded. The next milestone is the upcoming quarterly earnings, currently set for March 24, according to data providers.
