GameStop stock run gives it a bigger market cap than several actual video game companies
Watch out Take-Two.
GameStop shares are running hot right now.
GameStop's massive run on Wall Street this month hasn't just given nice profits to members of the WallStreetBets Reddit board, it's also made the retailer bigger than some of the video game companies whose products it sells.
The run, which has seen GameStop stock soar from under $17.25 a share at the start of the year to nearly $400 a share early Thursday, gives the beleaguered video game retailer a market cap of roughly $28 billion. This puts GameStop ahead of firms such as Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft and Square Enix.
Take-Two, which owns Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar Games as well as 2K (makers of the popular NBA 2K franchise) was valued Thursday morning at $23.07 billion. France-based Ubisoft, which owns the Assassin's Creed and Watch Dogs franchises, was valued at $12.39 billion, and Japan-based Square Enix, maker of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, at $6.95 billion.
Despite the massive run, GameStop still has a ways to go to catch top game publishers Activision Blizzard ($70.32 billion market cap), EA ($41.97 billion) and hardware makers Nintendo ($72.1 billion), Sony ($123.54 billion) and Microsoft ($1.8 trillion).
Whether the company can sustain its improbable run, of course, remains the multibillion-dollar question. TD Ameritrade has restricted some trading of GameStop stock, as well as other stocks mentioned by the Reddit board including movie theater chain AMC. Robinhood joined the blocking on Thursday morning. The company explained its decision in a blog post, saying that "in light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only." It proceeded to list a number of companies popular on Reddit including GameStop, AMC, Express and Nokia.
The volatility also hasn't always worked in the stocks' favor. GameStop stock was down over 30% at times in after-hours trading on Wednesday, but the stock's fans seem to have rallied in the face of apparent pressure from Robinhood and TD Ameritrade. GameStop stock was up over 10% in early trading, with people getting topics like "DO NOT SELL" to trend on Twitter in the US while advising others to use apps such as Webull and the Cash App's Investing option to trade securities.
See also: GameStop frenzy has you curious about investing money? Know these tips before you do
