UPDATE 2-GameStop profit rises on software sales

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NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Retailer GameStop Corp(GME.N) said on Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 46 percent, boosted by sales of video games such as Activision's Guitar Hero III and said it sees stronger results for the full year.

It also forecast solid results for the current quarter, citing strong demand for new games such as Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and said it plans to open up to 600 stores this year.

The Grapevine, Texas-based company's net earnings rose to $189.8 million, or $1.14 a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, from $129.8 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier

Revenue rose 24.4 percent to $2.87 billion.

Analysts, on average, had seen the company posting a profit of $1.12 a share on revenue of $2.9 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter called the results solid and said he expected the stock would rise "on the realization that GameStop is one of the best positioned retailers to not only benefit from a strong product cycle, but to sustain 30 percent earnings growth over the next couple of years, even in what appears to be a weakening macro environment."

Shares of GameStop rose 1 percent to $47.47 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

GameStop sees comparable store sales in the first quarter increasing by 24-25 percent, and expects its earnings per share to more than double to 32-33 cents a share, beating the analysts' view of 29 cents a share.

For the full fiscal year, sales are expected to grow between 19 percent to 21 percent, driven by a strong lineup of video game title releases across all platforms. Earnings per share for the full year are expected to range from $2.25 to $2.34, outpacing analysts average estimates, according to Reuters Estimates.

"We, like most in the industry, expect strong hardware sales to continue with total units sold exceeding last year's peak due to continued demand and selective price cuts," Vice Chairman Daniel DeMatteo said on a conference call with analysts.

In addition, the company said it expects to open 575 to 600 new stores worldwide during the year.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Gunna Dickson)