/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/6OHGQSGWANPHHBKJZWDDIGRJXM.jpg "GameStop shares plummet after fifth CEO exit in 5 years")
June 8 (Reuters) – GameStop (GME.N) sank nearly 20% on Thursday and was set for its worst session in two years after the surprise exit of a CEO handpicked to lead its online expansion fanned concerns about the videogame retailer’s ailing business.
The ousting of former Amazon.com executive Matt Furlong came alongside top shareholder Ryan Cohen’s appointment as the executive chairman of a company that he turned into a favorite of meme-stock traders with promises of a digital pivot.
Yet GameStop was set to erase half of its gains for 2023 and about $1.6 billion in market value, based on premarket share movements, with one analyst saying management change has been the only constant in recent years.
“It’s hard to have an opinion with no earnings call, little-to-no investor communication, and lack of consistent strategic vision,” said Andrew Uerkwitz of Jefferies.
“One consistency remains, changes at the top. Over the last 5 years, GameStop has had 5 CEOs and 3 CFOs.”
Uerkwitz is among the last few analysts who cover GameStop after a massive pandemic-era rally that was driven by traders banding together on Reddit prompted several brokerages to say the stock price had decoupled from its fundamentals.
The company’s shares have dropped nearly 80% from the $120.75 peak they hit during that meme-stock saga of 2021. The stock has a 12-month trailing price-to-sales ratio of 1.38, compared with Best Buy’s (BBY.N) 0.37.
GameStop has also struggled to deliver on Cohen’s pledge of making it the Amazon of videogame stores, having seen several high-level exits over recent months, including those who were drawn from the Chewy co-founder’s personal network.
The company, which still relies mostly on brick-and-mortar stores, reported its fourth straight fall in quarterly revenue on Wednesday and a bigger-than-expected loss.
“GameStop is doomed,” said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities. “The lack of a clear direction and the callous termination of Furlong all but ensures Cohen will have difficulty attracting a qualified replacement.”
Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.
The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.
On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.
The Christmas season in Puerto Rico typically lasts around 45 days. (iStock)
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The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.
One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.
In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.
Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.
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Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.
In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.
Coquito is a popular beverage enjoyed during the holiday season in Puerto Rico. Coconut, vanilla and rum are among the ingredients. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
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A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.
The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.
In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.
Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.
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After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.
Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.
On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.
For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.
Gifts are primarily exchanged between loved ones on Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico. (iStock)
Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.
The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.
This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.
Twin-engine plane crashed in largely residential neighborhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff, authorities say.
A small plane has crashed into a tourist hotspot in southern Brazil, killing all 10 people on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, officials have said.
The twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and the second floor of a different house before crashing into a shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff from Canela, Brazil’s Civil Defense agency said on Sunday.
Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that the aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.
Leite said that 17 people on the ground were injured, 12 of whom were still receiving treatment in hospital.
Galeazzi’s company, Galeazzi & Associados, confirmed that its CEO and Galeazzi’s wife and three daughters had died in the crash.
“Luiz Galeazzi will be forever remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as a leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.
“In this moment of immense pain, Galeazzi & Associados is deeply grateful for the expressions of solidarity and affection received from friends, colleagues and the community. We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region.”
Gramado, located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, is a popular destination for vacationers, especially during the Christmas season.
The crash comes a little more than a year after Brazil suffered its worst air disaster in nearly two decades when a twin-engine plane crashed in the southeastern city of Vinhedo, killing all 62 people on board.
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