GameStop's board has approved an update to its investment policy to add bitcoin as a treasury-reserve asset.

Shares of GameStop Corp. rose 11% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the videogame retailer and original meme-stock company announced its eagerly anticipated foray into bitcoin.

In a short statement, GameStop said its board had unanimously approved an update to its investment policy to add bitcoin (BTCUSD) as a treasury-reserve asset. The move did not come completely out of the blue, as bitcoin buzz has swirled around GameStop and its chief executive, Ryan Cohen, in recent weeks.

In a Form 10-K filing, GameStop said that with the addition of the new treasury-reserve asset, a portion of the company's cash or future debt and equity issuances may be invested in bitcoin. "We have not set a maximum amount of bitcoin we may accumulate, and may sell any bitcoin we may acquire," it added.

Last month, Cohen posted a picture of himself with Michael Saylor, the executive chair of software company and bitcoin play Strategy - formerly MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR) - which has held bitcoin as its primary treasury-reserve asset since 2020.

With bitcoin on its balance sheet, GameStop joins the ranks of companies looking to reap the benefits of a crypto-friendly Trump administration, including Strategy, online brokerage Robinhood and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global, Inc.

In December 2023, GameStop's board of directors approved a new investment policy that gave Cohen the authority to manage the company's investment portfolio.

GameStop was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits, a social platform for investors and traders, late Tuesday. Investors were debating the implications of GameStop's new investment strategy and its bitcoin move, according to Stocktwits.

GameStop also reported its fourth-quarter results late Tuesday. The company posted sales of $1.283 billion for the quarter ended Feb. 1, down from $1.794 billion in the same period last year. The average estimate among two analysts surveyed by FactSet was for revenue of $1.477 billion.

GameStop earned $131.3 million, or 29 cents cents a share, in the quarter, up from $63.1 million, or 21 cents a share, in the same period last year - marking the company's third consecutive quarterly profit.

On an adjusted basis, GameStop earned 30 cents a share, well above the FactSet estimate of 8 cents a share, also based on projections from two analysts.

GameStop ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $4.775 billion, up from $1.199 billion at the end of the same period last year.

The company did not hold a conference call in conjunction with its earnings report.