GameStop Refuses to Back Down on $56 Billion eBay Takeover Bid Despite Rejection
CEO Ryan Cohen is pressing ahead with one of the most audacious unsolicited takeover attempts in recent memory — and the company says its strongest earnings yet are coming to back it up.
| OFFER VALUE
$56B Cash-and-stock bid |
GME AFTER-HOURS MOVE
+2% Following Friday’s filing |
PROJECTED EBITDA 2026
>$600M vs $345.4M in fiscal 2025 |
GameStop is not walking away. The videogame retailer confirmed on Friday that it intends to push forward with its unsolicited $56 billion takeover offer for eBay, despite the e-commerce platform flatly rejecting the proposal last month. In a short regulatory filing, the company also disclosed that fiscal 2026 is shaping up to be a standout year financially — a signal that GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is building the case that his company has the firepower to pull off a deal of this magnitude.
The announcement sent GameStop’s stock up more than 2% in after-hours trading, suggesting that investors remain willing to bet on Cohen’s ambitions, however unconventional they may appear on the surface.
How We Got Here
| MAY 2026 | Cohen Makes the Offer
GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen surprises Wall Street with an unsolicited cash-and-stock bid worth approximately $56 billion for eBay — a company roughly five times GameStop’s size. Cohen argues a combined entity would be a more formidable rival to Amazon, and confirms he would run the merged company himself. |
| MAY 2026 | eBay Rejects the Bid
eBay’s board moves swiftly to reject the offer in the same month it was made, declining to engage further with GameStop’s proposal. |
| JUN 24, 2026 | GameStop Announces More Materials Coming
GameStop tells investors it will release a detailed presentation outlining the strategic rationale and operational plan for a combined company — signalling it intends to make its case publicly. |
| JUN 27, 2026 | GameStop Files — And Reaffirms Its Position
A new regulatory filing confirms GameStop is holding firm on the takeover and announces strong projected earnings for fiscal 2026, pushing the stock up more than 2% in after-hours trading. |
The Case Cohen Is Making
From the outside, the pairing of GameStop and eBay might seem like an unlikely combination — a struggling brick-and-mortar games retailer making a run at one of the internet’s longest-standing marketplaces. But Cohen’s pitch has a clear logic: together, the two companies would form a marketplace and retail operation with the scale to compete more directly with Amazon, which continues to dominate both e-commerce and logistics at a level that neither company could challenge independently.
Cohen has also made clear he would take the helm of a combined company. His transformation of Chewy into a multi-billion-dollar business, and his earlier activist role at GameStop itself, have established him as someone capable of driving unconventional turnarounds.
“Additional materials regarding the proposed transaction are forthcoming.”
— GameStop, Regulatory Filing, June 27, 2026
What GameStop has not yet provided is specifics. Friday’s filing was brief, confirming intent without laying out a detailed path forward. Markets are now waiting on the fuller presentation to understand whether Cohen’s vision holds up to scrutiny.
The Earnings Story
| YEAR | ADJUSTED EBITDA |
| Fiscal 2025 | $345.4M |
| Fiscal 2026 (Projected) | >$600M |
Alongside the takeover news, GameStop’s filing included a notable financial disclosure: the company expects to generate adjusted EBITDA of more than $600 million in fiscal 2026 — a jump of more than 73% compared to the $345.4 million reported in fiscal 2025. The figure speaks directly to Cohen’s argument that GameStop is a financially stronger business than its retail origins might suggest.
The earnings projection was enough to nudge the stock higher in after-hours trading. Whether those numbers translate into enough credibility with eBay’s board to reopen negotiations is a separate question. For now, eBay has not responded to the latest filing — and the market is watching to see what Cohen does next.
