The Pokemon Company
GameStop is going nuts, thanks to Pokémon Go.
Shares of the video game retailer jumped by as much as 7% in trading on Monday after CEO Paul Raines told CNBC that sales at stores that were gyms in the app were up 100%.
The location-based smartphone game uses augmented reality to guide players in finding Pokémon. It quickly surged to the top of the app-store rankings.
Gyms are real-world places where players can take their Pokémon for battles. Raines said 462 stores this past weekend were Poké gyms.
Across the board, Pokémon merchandise sales were "up significantly," Raines said, in what is traditionally a weak time of the year for video gaming.
GameStop stock rose to as high as $30.21 a share, its highest level since May. Bloomberg noted that it was the biggest one-day gain for the stock since May 2015.
GameStop shares have fallen 35% over the past 12 months. The stock plunged by as much as 18% in November after the company reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results on a slump in software and hardware sales.
Pokémon Go has been even better for Nintendo, whose stock surge in the days after the game's release added as much as $9 billion to the company's market value. Nintendo is a part owner of the game's developer, Niantic Inc.
Here's a chart showing the rise in GameStop shares on Monday:
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