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GameStop posts biggest non-holiday quarter ever

Specialty retailer breaks $2 billion sales mark on strength of stacked March slate including Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III; net profits top $75 million.

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Global economic malaise be damned, GameStop continues to enjoy financial success in a difficult consumer climate. The gaming specialty retailer today released record-breaking results its first fiscal quarter.

The faces on these customers are almost as silly as GameStop's record sales.
The faces on these customers are almost as silly as GameStop's record sales.

For the three months ended May 1, GameStop posted revenues of $2.08 billion, up more than 5 percent from the $1.98 billion it managed in the same period the year before. It is the first time GameStop has ever broken the $2 billion sales mark outside of the company's holiday quarter.

The company's performance could be largely attributed to spiking new game sales, which were up more than 13 percent year-over-year on a lineup of big-name releases in March. GameStop singled out Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, and February's BioShock 2 as particularly strong sellers.

GameStop also improved its bottom line for the quarter. The company posted a net income of $75.17 million, up nearly 7 percent from the $70.43 million profits it declared in the same stretch of the year prior.

While disappointing sales for April have analysts second guessing their previously optimistic predictions for the industry in 2010, GameStop's outlook remains rosy. The company expects net profits to be up 9 to 17 percent year-over-year in the current quarter, 19 to 28 percent in the next quarter, and 14 to 18 percent overall for its fiscal 2010.

Those figures may be bolstered by some of the company's latest initiatives. GameStop said that later this month it will begin marketing and selling downloadable content in a number of test stores, and certain markets will see the launch of a new customer loyalty program.

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