Ahead Of The Bell: GameStop Shares Slump

NEW YORK (AP) — GameStop Corp. shares slipped ahead of regular trading Tuesday after a Janney Montgomery Scott analyst cut the company's stock rating, pointing to a weak near-term outlook for video game sales.

Analyst Tony Wible cut his rating to "Neutral" from "Buy."

Shares fell 84 cents, or 3 percent, to $27.32 in premarket trading.

GameStop, the world's largest video game retailer, is suffering from a dearth of hit games and cautious spending by consumers. The Grapevine, Texas, company was forced to cut its full-year profit forecast this summer.

Wible said September video game sales climbed a "disappointing" 5.2 percent from the same month last year, well below his 13 percent estimate. He said that raises worries that GameStop will have to rely more on discounted used games to drive traffic to its stores rather than more lucrative new titles.

Wible projects the company is now on track to report a 4 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter sales, down from his previous estimate of a 3.1 percent rise.