BOSTON, MA – GameStop shares surged by more than 72% on Monday as trader Keith Gill, known online as “Roaring Kitty,” reemerged after four years since leading an investment frenzy involving the video game retailer. Gill, a former financial analyst at MassMutual, gained popularity in late 2020 by encouraging amateur retail investors to buy GameStop shares during the meme stock craze through Reddit discussion boards and YouTube videos. However, in 2021, Gill publicly disclosed that he had suffered a $13 million loss in one day from his GameStop investments.
Following his appearance before Congress to address the meme stock craze, Gill’s social media presence dwindled to nonexistence, until resurfacing recently with comeback-themed posts and videos. Retail investors on Reddit had financially adopted struggling companies like GameStop, AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Blackberry during the pandemic to support these companies and counter hedge funds betting against them through a “short squeeze.”
Despite GameStop’s declining sales due to the industry shift towards digital downloads, meme stock investors helped the company turn its first profit in two years last March, following seven consecutive quarterly losses. In January, GameStop reported its first annual profit since 2018. Roaring Kitty’s post contributed to a rise in GameStop’s share price to $28.25 on Monday, with the stock reaching an all-time high of $120.75 in January 2021. Additionally, shares of AMC and Bed Bath also experienced slight increases on Monday.
Last September, GameStop appointed Chewy founder Ryan Cohen as its new CEO. In its most recent quarterly earnings report from March, the company disclosed job cuts to reduce costs, as revenue decreased to $1.79 billion from $2.23 billion the previous year. GameStop’s resurgence continues to captivate investors and analysts in the financial market.