Shares of video game retailer-turned-social media phenomena GameStop soared Thursday after Keith Gill, the unofficial commander of the meme stock movement, scheduled his first public appearance since he ignited the GameStop rally with his multimillion-dollar bet on the stock.
Gill owns five million common shares of GameStop and even more in call options, according to unverified posts from his DeepF*ckingValue Reddit account, a position worth well over $100 million.
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Key Facts
Gill’s YouTube channel “Roaring Kitty” scheduled a livestream for 12 p.m. ET Friday, which would be the popular account’s first video since April 2021.
Trading in GameStop stock was briefly halted after the livestream’s scheduling but has since resumed with massive gains, with shares up more than 20% to over $40 on the day, down from their intraday peak of $44.41 hit shortly after Gill’s YouTube activity.
Shares are still pacing toward their highest close since May 15, three days after Gill posted on social media for the first time since the 2021 meme stock mania.
It’s of course highly unusual for a scheduled YouTube video from a 37-year-old not directly tied to the company to drive such a significant movement in a stock of a company valued at more than $10 billion, especially since nobody knows what the livestream will be about, but Thursday’s movement is the latest evidence of the GameStop momentum.
Key Background
Gill owns five million common shares of GameStop, and another 120,000 call options, according to unverified posts from his DeepF*ckingValue Reddit account earlier this week, a total position worth well over $100 million. Celebrated by many on social media communities dedicated to day trading as a modern-day Robin Hood, Gill faces significant scrutiny tied to his reemergence as an investor in GameStop, with brokerage E-Trade reportedly considering booting him from its platform and Massachusetts’ financial regulator probing his recent trading activity. Gill rose to prominence online as he attracted a following while tracking his 2019 investment GameStop, eventually becoming the main face of the early 2021 meme stock frenzy, when a swarm of retail investors banded together on social media against institutional investors with short bets against GameStop.
Contra
Unlike fellow meme stocks like AMC and Bed Bath & Beyond, GameStop’s stock has been resilient, with its share price sitting more than eight times higher than its price at the end of 2020 before that bout of meme stock mania overtook markets. Yet, GameStop’s financial performance displays little evidence of a company that deserves such a stock market explosion, as its $5.3 billion in revenue during its latest fiscal year is lower than what it brought in during any year from 2009 to 2020. GameStop’s stock never traded higher than $15.53 prior to the 2021 meme stock surge despite its more robust top and bottom lines prior to the pandemic.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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