GameStop down year-on-year, and the stock market doesn't like it

Today, GameStop shared its quarterly results, and they show a year-on-year decline for the retailer, despite the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One coming into their second holiday season. The company posted sales of $2.09 billion for the three-month period ending November 1, 2014; compared to $2.11 billion for the same period last year, that's a decline of 0.7 percent. Analysts projected $2.2 billion -- so it's a significant miss. As of this writing, GameStop's stock is down 11 percent in after-hours trading. The company, for its part, puts the blame on Assassin's Creed Unity, as last year's game, Black Flag, made it out for last-gen consoles and the Wii U in October 2013, ahead of the next-gen launch. A bright spot: new hardware sales increased 147.4 percent year on year for the quarter, which jibes with the rosy news we're hearing about that next-generation transition. According to GameStop, the installed base of Sony and Microsoft's new units is 73 percent greater than the PS3 and Xbox 360 during the same period in their lifespans. On the other hand, new software sales declined 34.4 percent year-on-year, which GameStop primarily blames on the strength of last year's lineup for the quarter: Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield 4, Batman: Arkham Origins, Pokemon X/Y and Assassinas Creed IV: Black Flag. Digital content sales via GameStop increased 52.4 percent year-on-year on a non-GAAP basis to $210.3 million, thanks to DLC, platform currency, and increased sales in international markets. Net earnings were $56.4 million for the quarter; last year the company had net earnings of $68.6 million in the same period. The big discrepancy is, in part, thanks to a write-down of some assets related to a sale; without them, GameStop would have made $64.3 million for the quarter. This likely refers to GameStop's exit from the Spanish market, which was due to complete by the end of this year.