GameStop’s $9 Billion War Chest: 5 Likely Acquisition Targets Ranked

By Trey Thoelcke Published Mar 31, 8:25AM EDT

Quick Read

GameStop (GME) holds $9.01B in combined cash and short-term investments from equity raises and convertible debt, positioning the company to acquire Peloton (PTON), which trades at a $1.7B market cap and offers 2.661M paid subscribers for recurring revenue that GameStop lacks. Marathon Digital (MARA) at $3.0B market cap is also realistic given GameStop’s $519.4M Bitcoin holdings and Marathon’s 60.4 EH/s mining hashrate.
Ryan Cohen’s acquisition intentions remain unannounced, but GameStop’s massive cash position and declining stock comparables across retail and fitness sectors create both opportunity and pressure to deploy capital meaningfully.
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GameStop’s $9 Billion War Chest: 5 Likely Acquisition Targets Ranked — © GameStop Logo Sign - Vallejo - California (CC BY 2.0) by Will Buckner

GameStop (NYSE: GME) has quietly become one of the most unusual balance sheets in American retail. The company now holds $9,013,800,000 in combined cash and short-term investments, the result of equity raises, a $4.16 billion convertible debt issuance, and a leaner store footprint. CEO Ryan Cohen has signaled serious capital deployment intentions without naming a target. That ambiguity has fueled speculation across Wall Street and Reddit alike, where one post recently noted that “GME shareholders got the better of us” as the stock posted +10% year-to-date gains while the broader market fell. With billions available, here are five companies GameStop could realistically pursue, ranked from least to most likely.

5. eBay

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is the most strategically compelling name in the conversation. Its recommerce model overlaps directly with GameStop’s collectibles segment, which now accounts for 31.2% of its sales. eBay posted full-year revenue of $11.1 billion with 135 million active buyers and is acquiring Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion, deepening its recommerce credentials. The problem is that eBay carries a market cap of roughly $39.4 billion, more than four times GameStop’s entire cash war chest. Even at a distressed valuation, this deal would require transformational leverage Cohen has given no indication he would pursue.

Buyout odds: Longshot.

4. Best Buy

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) shares the same physical retail DNA as GameStop and has struggled to grow, with full-year revenue of $41.69 billion on a −1% trajectory. The stock is down 11.8% over one year and 44.8% over five years. The strategic overlap is real, but Best Buy’s market cap of $13.4 billion still exceeds GameStop’s deployable cash, and absorbing a $41 billion revenue business would be operationally overwhelming for a company still rationalizing its own store count.

Buyout odds: Very unlikely.

3. Lululemon

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) has fallen 50.2% over the past year and 29.8% year-to-date, compressing its market cap to roughly $17.1 billion. A leadership transition to an interim co-CEO structure adds uncertainty. Acquiring Lululemon at a multi-year discount would let Cohen diversify away from gaming retail and leverage the brand’s $1.807 billion cash position and +30% China comparable sales growth. Lululemon still trades above what GameStop could fund without significant leverage, and consumer sentiment at 53.3 on the University of Michigan index signals a fragile spending environment for premium apparel.

Buyout odds: Speculative but not absurd.

2. Marathon Digital

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) is down 37.5% over one year, with a market cap of roughly $3.0 billion. That is well within GameStop’s cash range. The strategic logic is direct, as GameStop already holds $519.4 million in Bitcoin, and Marathon operates 60.4 EH/s of energized hashrate with a West Texas power and data center joint venture targeting approximately 400 MW. Acquiring Marathon would transform GameStop’s passive Bitcoin treasury into an active mining and digital infrastructure business. Bitcoin’s 23.68% year-to-date decline makes the entry point more attractive. The risk: Marathon carries negative operating margins and revenue highly correlated to crypto prices, adding volatility to an already speculative balance sheet.

Buyout odds: Realistic.

#1: Peloton

Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ: PTON) is the most financially accessible and structurally interesting target on this list. The stock has fallen 35.6% over one year and 96.3% over five years, leaving a market cap of roughly $1.7 billion. GameStop could acquire Peloton outright for a fraction of its cash position. Peloton’s 2.661 million paid Connected Fitness subscribers represent a recurring revenue base that GameStop entirely lacks. Adjusted EBITDA is improving, up 39% year-over-year to $81.4 million in Q2 FY2026, and the company is guiding for $450 million to $500 million in full-year adjusted EBITDA. However, Peloton carries shareholder equity of −$326.7 million, has a departing CFO, and its subscriber base has declined 7% year-over-year. Cohen would be buying a turnaround inside a turnaround.

Buyout odds: Most likely of the five.

The Verdict

GameStop’s cash-rich balance sheet is real, and Ryan Cohen’s track record of unconventional capital moves demands that investors take acquisition speculation seriously. Peloton stands out as the most actionable: it is affordable, carries a subscription model that would diversify GameStop’s revenue, and is distressed enough that Cohen could negotiate from strength. Whether he acts or continues deploying capital into Bitcoin and short-term securities, the clock is running. A company trading at 28x earnings with over $9 billion in liquid assets and a meme stock fan base faces mounting pressure to deploy capital.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.