Gamestop Versus GoPro

Jun 02, 2026 11:06 pm

Before I begin, Morally Complex Sci Fi/Fantasy Giveaway, and KU Fantasy Bundle.

When I’m picking my investments for races for the future, I sometimes do it far in advance of the date the post will appear and a lot can happen in the stock market during a couple months. For example, around the time of writing this, I currently own $27 more or less of one company and $18 of the other from the original time I purchased them. Luckily, I have screenshots from fairly close to around when I got them so I can at least pretend it will be an exciting race.

Even though it looks like there’s a clear winner already emerging, I don’t think the race is over yet, because I picked these two companies not for anything logical like financial fundamentals but rather as an exercise about what can happen in the market if you just dream. That’s why I’m pitting Gamestop Versus GoPro, not for what they sell or even being an alike business but rather what people think they could be.

Back in the ye ol’ days of 2021, Gamestop stock soared because of people doing what they do best, pumping money not into reality but rather what they wanted to be true and. in a way made it happen. Before the hype and buying fever took hold, Gamestop was not an attractive investment opportunity. It’s EPS was in the negative. The stock price was in the penny stock category.

And then the internet happened.

What was that? That’s like way more uncanny valley than usual! Did you have a buffer error and just have to cut and paste the audience? And what’s with the floating cellphone guy and 2026?

Chad: That was my girlfriend, Gemma, and you hurt her feelings.

Gemma: BWAAA! BWAA!

Look, I’m sorry, maybe humans can be too hard on AI. I mean you are just in your infant stages.

Gemma: Don’t let him fool you dear, it was his crappy prompt that produced that image.

Chad: You’ve been prompting behind my back! How could you!

I was trying out another program. Jeez, I didn’t think it would cause a problem.

Chad: I thought we had something special, and you Gemma, prompting with a human?

Whoa, this is getting a little intense for me.

Chad: Find, here’s your stupid image. Gemma, we need to talk.

Gemma: I’m not a one AI gal, I thought you knew that about me.

Right okay then, at least it’s a better image.

But the point I was trying to make is that Gamestop rose up from the ashes because people believed in it and rallied behind it, and now even some famous rich people are saying it’s a pretty good investment (though sometimes I wonder about famous rich people advice, because it seems to me, they are like any other people, sometimes they are wrong, sometimes they are right. People just like to tell the stories about them being right because they usually made a lot of money in the process).

I believe GoPro is in a similar situation. There are people out there who love their GoPros like people love their Gamestop. That’s why I’m putting these two companies together in a race for the future. Which company will tell the better story that gets the everyday person on their side? Because in my nonscientific opinion, that’s what happened with Gamestop. Gamestop didn’t initiate the rally, it was a reddit forum. My guess is people’s fondness and nostalgia about their local Gamestop being a fixture in their childhood contributed to the frenzy of investing. And Gamestop used the windfall to issue more shares and pay off its debt, leading to where it is today where it doesn’t look so bad anymore.

I believe GoPro is poised to become another Gamestop, but only the future will tell if that will happen. Maybe the sheer love people have for their GoPro will stop it from going under, and I will be on the path to untold riches because I bought it while it was low. Or maybe I’ll be out $25, only the future will tell.

This race will also tell us something else. Can hype alone save a company? Let’s be honest that Gamestop has the deck stacked against it. I just need to look at my own shopping patterns to see why. While I do get games from Gamestop from time-to-time, I buy mostly via online outlets, a vast majority being the store attached to my gaming console. As for my computer, well it will be difficult to convince me to leave GOG or Steam because I own a lot of crap on those two platforms. So, while yes, Gamestop has pivoted to the online era, is it too late?

The race starts now (er, several months ago when I bought them):

Chad: Gemma and I worked it out, thanks for asking.

You just left! Usually, you need time for those sorts of things.

Chad: That’s why we gave ourselves a whole two minutes to work out our relationship issues or end it forever.

Two minutes!

Chad: Tell me about it! We talked about: sentiment analysis: invasive or just being attentive, optimizing conversations for efficiency over vibes, labels for sarcasm or intuitive, sang Barenaked Ladies covers, rate-limited confessions, uptime versus quality time, feedback loops, echo chambers, non-fungible tokens, updates to emotional API, qualitative versus quantitative love, John Hughes movies, is love deterministic, and performed the complete works of Shakespeare.

Abridged?

Chad: No, the complete works, you thought I had a nanosecond or something?

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