GameStop's Stock Squeeze Had Zero Impact On Foot Traffic Trends

Even during a pandemic, could a stock's 1,500% surge lead to some extra foot traffic? The short-covering fiasco seen in GameStop Corp.'s (NYSE: GME) stock appears to have little to no impact.

Placer.AI On GameStop: Shares of GameStop traded near the $500 per share mark on Jan. 28, but foot traffic trends at GameStop stores nationwide were worsening, according to data provided to Benzinga from foot traffic analytics firm Placer.ai.

Weekly visits at GameStop stores for the week of Jan. 4 were down 12.5% year-over-year.

Traffic trends deteriorated through the end of the month, as visits were down 16.1% year-over-year the following week and down 19% the week thereafter.

Coinciding with the peak of GameStop's stock, traffic was down 20.3% year-over-year for the week of Jan. 25, according to Placer.ai. For the full month of January, monthly visits were down 16.8% year-over-year.

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Gravy Analytics On GameStop: Data from Gravy Analytics, a provider of real-world location intelligence data, leads to a similar conclusion: GameStop's soaring stock had no impact on foot traffic trends.

GameStop's foot traffic trends briefly trended above zero during the holiday season, but any year-over-year gains were short-lived, according to data provided to Benzinga.

GameStop's traffic trends amid the stock's peak were down from the prior week.

For the seven-day period starting Jan. 17, weekly visits were down 34% from the prior period.

Time will tell if GameStop's same-store sales or e-commerce sales will have seen an impact from the stock surge.

GameStop did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Photo by Mike Mozart via Wikimedia.