Good riddance. Starting this week, Blockbuster’s stock will not be available on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The NYSE requires individual share to be worth more than $1 averaged over a consecutive thirty-day period; Blockbuster’s shares have remained below that point since May. As of this writing, a Blockbuster share is only worth 17¢, well below their $29.41 high in 2002. By contrast, Netflix is trading at $106 per share.
This latest news should come as no surprise to movie-lovers, who are largely choosing different ways of catching flicks, such as rental-by-mail, live streaming over the Internet, or pay-per-view. Blockbuster, slow to react to changing habits, is now in trouble: just last year, they announced the closure of almost one thousand stores by the end of this year.
Of course, it would be premature to count Blockbuster out just yet – they still have time to change their business model and win back customers. In order to do so, they will have to get serious about the Internet and about treating customers fairly; if not, we can all look forward to a big DVD/Blu-Ray sale when Blockbuster finally goes belly-up.
Read Blockbuster’s statement here:
http://investor.blockbuster.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99383&p=irolnewsArticle&ID=1443744&highlight=