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June 7 (UPI) -- Shares of video game retailer GameStop fell in after-hours trading Wednesday after the Texas-based company announced it had fired CEO Matthew Furlong. The company's shares were down $4.88 or 18.69% at 5:36 pm EDT, trading at $21.23.
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GameStop closed the trading day up $1.42 or 5.75%, at $26.11 after it released its latest earnings report.
The company said it would not conduct a conference call on the earnings.
Activist investor Ryan Cohen was elected by the company's board as executive chairman effective immediately.
"Mr. Cohen's responsibilities include capital allocation and overseeing management. In conjunction, the company's former CEO has been terminated," GameStop said in a brief statement.
"We believe the combination of these efforts to stabilize and optimize our core business and achieve sustained profitability while also focusing on capital allocation under Mr. Cohen's leadership will further unlock long-term value creation for our stockholders," it said in a document filed as part of its earnings report.
The news comes less than a year after the company replaced its Chief Financial Officer amid a large round of layoffs.
Cohen, who founded online pet goods retailer Chewy, was brought in at the same time to help lead the company's turnaround.
GameStop drew massive public attention as a "meme stock" targeted by online traders, causing shares to soar for a period.
The company has since slashed administrative expenses by more than $100 million over the last year.
In Wednesday's earnings filing, the company reported $1.24 billion in revenue, down from $1.38 billion the previous year. Net losses over the same period decreased from $157.9 million to $50.5 million.
