Games Workshop's Stock Drops 24% in One Day

[kawaiku]

Article here, part 8 of 9:

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The Future of Games Days & Games Workshop's - Part 8 - Today: stock market crash -24% in one day!​

Surprise, surprise,...


Newsflash: After peaking at over 810 pence per share in October, Games Workshop's stock market value dropped sharply by 24% today, following their release of half-year numbers. Turnover (that is sales, people) is down 12% from last year.

How is that possible? I mean after all, GW increased prices so much! How can sales be down? That makes no sense, does it? Well, not to the GW Management it doesn't...

Someone should have told them about the error of their ways....

...not!

Don't say, I didn't tell you Games Workshop! I point at you, going 'HAHA!' while I weep for the hobby and the community.

Articles like the ones we wrote about the Future of Games Days and Games Workshop even got us not one, but two nominations in the Wamp awards for 2013! Over one-hundred-thousand views on our epic wall-of-text-venting-my-frustration series prove that people are concerned about what the GW management is doing - and the Bubble Boys still dance naked in black snow of Nottingham Forrest...

Read up, if you don't know what we are talking about. Oh, and grab some cheeze with our whine and grab a towel for the tears. Make it a large one - you'll need it:
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 7.5


Elasticity without bounce?

Seems Games Workshop has finally found the 'price-elasticity' of their products - or rather as I would like to call it "the point of no return". Why that? I don't think GW will be able to recover from this.

The long awaited downward trend has begun and the management is too immobile and too set in their ways to recognize what the frakk is going on. The have proven that time and time again. FIAL.

As I wrote earlier this year, I thought that at over 700 pence the stock was already too expensive, even though it went on to new heights beyond 800 in October.

Well, inb4 reality check:

StockMarketWire.com - Games Workshop posts pre-tax profits of £7.7m for the six months to 1 December - down from £11.1m last time.
Revenues fell to £60.5m (£59.8m at constant currencies) from £67.5m a year ago and operating profits fell to £7.7m from £11.0m. [edit: that is -30% profit]
Chairman and acting chief executive Tom Kirby said: "Our costs are well under control and margins remain strong. Cash management is good and our capital expenditure continues as planned. Following the implementation of the structural changes just announced we expect to benefit from the more focussed selling operation across all channels against the background of a materially lower cost base."

CONTINUED....

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[kawaiku]

I haven't read the entire thing but it seems people are finally happy that GW has taken this big of a hit. Most it seems, are fed up with prices and the company's management. I would love to get back into the hobby myself and paint up a nice Lizardmen army and maybe a few other Warhammer Fantasy Battle armies (Bretonnians, Empire, and Dark Elves), but the prices are so high it hurts to look at the models because they are just really well done. But then comes their attitude with their fan base and it's a major turn off.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I haven't read the entire thing but it seems people are finally happy that GW has taken this big of a hit. Most it seems, are fed up with prices and the company's management. I would love to get back into the hobby myself and paint up a nice Lizardmen army and maybe a few other Warhammer Fantasy Battle armies (Bretonnians, Empire, and Dark Elves), but the prices are so high it hurts to look at the models because they are just really well done. But then comes their attitude with their fan base and it's a major turn off.

Nice find!

I admit to participating in some schadenfreude. GW got outrageous with their prices. I mean, lunatic outrageous. $100 for a rule book?!? A rule book that would only be valid for a year or two?!? Nothing cheaper than $35 for a small set of minis? Small plastic minis?!? They just priced themselves out of the market, and during a global recession no less!

I think this is why so many indie miniatures casters, as well as the 15mm scene, have become so popular. For what you could spend on a small set of GW minis, you could field almost an entire army of 15mm minis from an indie producer. And get the rules for free, no less!

This is the genius of the free market at work, IMO. GW is getting a lesson in that as we speak.

I also suspect this is why GW is licensing their IP to PC game devs like never before. They NEED CASH!

 

[kawaiku]

Nice find!

Thanks

I admit to participating in some schadenfreude. GW got outrageous with their prices. I mean, lunatic outrageous. $100 for a rule book?!? A rule book that would only be valid for a year or two?!? Nothing cheaper than $35 for a small set of minis? Small plastic minis?!? They just priced themselves out of the market, and during a global recession no less!

So am I. And I freely admit that I am because I hope this shakes GW up in a good way. And yeah they really are. On top of the crazy prices you don't get a full set of minis, only half a squad usually. And agreed about the rulebooks. GW rulebooks cost a lot more than rulebooks put out by RPG companies (doing some comparisons). A typical army rulebook (the new hardcovers) cost upwards of 50 bucks on average. Their older ones settling for about $33 since they're softcovers. But the Warmachine Core rulebook 2e is about 45 bucks, Malifaux 2e is $15, and Infinity's is about $50. The Warhammer Fantasy and 40k books are between $75 and $80 (depending on tax). Looking at RPG books most core rulebooks top out around $50 while their supplements register in between $20-$35 on average (except for the odd large supplements). And most of these books are also all hardcover with full color artwork inside them. Not to mention most of these have a lot of playtesting done before going to print, something I've heard that most of the recent GW stuff really hasn't been. Then you get to the minis and you just die... lol. The corporate knuckleheads probably don't even play their own game. If they did, they'd realize just how ridiculous it has become.

I think this is why so many indie miniatures casters, as well as the 15mm scene, have become so popular. For what you could spend on a small set of GW minis, you could field almost an entire army of 15mm minis from an indie producer. And get the rules for free, no less!

And yeah, I picked up the Iron Kingdoms RPG, the Warmachine/Hordes world, and it got me interested in that setting. For a full army in GW, most people are saying you could get the core rules and an entire army with plenty of change left over. And THAT, has been VERY tempting for me. But when it comes to GW, I adore the 40K setting while I just love the Warhammer Fantasy table top minis (not entirely interested in the setting but I'm starting to read some background stuff anyways). So it's really hard for me to pass the GW stuff in an isle. And I'm no fanboi, I don't go out of my way to defend the company. But their products are just awesome and it's hard not to think, save for a battalion or not, or be a sucker or not. Lol. I literally ask myself that every time I look at the Lizardmen battalion set :laugh:...aperbag:

This is the genius of the free market at work, IMO. GW is getting a lesson in that as we speak.

Indeed it is! My only gripe is that I just found out Warmachine started to produce "monsterous" units which worries me that they'll be going down the 40K apocalypse path. A move I thought of as being incredibly ridiculous and another major cash grab.

I also suspect this is why GW is licensing their IP to PC game devs like never before. They NEED CASH!

True, but at the same time I feel like it was, "am 'bout damned time!!!" kinda thing lol.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Last night I was in the mood for a 40K novel, so I picked up my Kindle and started browsing the Amazon e-book store (once you get used to using an e-reader, it is hard to go back to regular books. Never thought I'd say that, but reading a book in a completely dark room is awesome ). I was disappointed to see that not a single 40K e-book was available. It was then that I learned that GW has decided to be the exclusive seller of the e-book conversions of their 40K franchise by forcing you to buy all of them at their official "Black Library" e-store. Okay, I figured, no big deal, so I went over there to start browsing...and was shocked by the outrageous pricing! They were selling 1,000 WORD short stories for $2! If you want a novel, it ranges between $11-14! If you want one of those audio/e-book hybrids, it can run around $20! Sets of e-books/audio books can run as HIGH AS $80! To add insult to injury, unlike Amazon's e-book store, the BL store does not provide free samples of each book, nor does it even give you detailed info on page count, etc. In other words, you are forced to buy one of their over-priced books completely blind beyond the quick sales pitch!

Needless to say, I didn't buy a damn thing. Screw you, GW.

One of the great things about the e-book revolution is how cheaply you can now buy books - not that they were ever that expensive to begin with, well, I mean in the 20th-21st Century , but it is now routine to get 40% to 80% off of print editions. GW has clearly decided to swim against the current by cutting off their catalog of e-books from other distributors, and then doubling the price!

Again, is it any wonder their stocks are down 24%? At this rate, the company will be putting itself out of business in short order. :nada: