Pachter: GameStop To See Over $1.2 Billion In Q1 Sales

Ahead of new and used game retailer GameStop's Q1 results to be reported May 23rd, Wedbush's Michael Pachter has said the group expects sales of $1.235 billion ahead of consensus estimates, with some losses in the company's hardware market share. "We expect the company to report results at or slightly above the high end of its guidance," said Pachter, "and EPS of $0.17" -- slightly ahead of consensus EPS estimates of $0.16. Noting that overall Q1 sales are up "an estimated 33% (+17% for software and +71% for hardware)," Pachter says Wedbush believes "the company maintained software market share, but may have lost some hardware market share during the quarter." "Our industry model projects hardware sales growth of 64% and software sales growth of 18% in 2007," he concludes, "both above GameStop estimates. We believe that the company’s continued outstanding execution will allow it to at least maintain market share for the full year," which the group believes will drive fiscal 2007 earnings much higher than consensus estimates.