Lazard: Halo 3, Holiday Outlook To Benefit GameStop

Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian has raised his estimates for GameStop, saying the retailer will be the key beneficiary of both hardware and software sales following the release of Halo 3, and what he says is a "bright" holiday outlook featuring a "healthy lineup" of releases.

Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed , Rock Band, and Super Mario Galaxy top the analyst's list of major releases coming by the end of the year, as well as the possibility of a new lower priced PlayStation 3.

"GameStop remains a key beneficiary of the secular upswing in industry sales," said Sebastian, "with multiple tailwinds including increasing hardware sales, a growing used business, and an improving next-generation software release schedule."

To that end, Sebastian has raised Q3 sales estimates up to $1.42 billion from $1.41 billion, and total fiscal 2007 sales from $6.44 billion to $6.5 billion, saying next year's release of GTA IV will also benefit the retailer, as well as a "growing used business fueled by an increasing mix of next generation software as trade-ins."