Current:Home > Finance"Roaring Kitty" trader returns, causing GameStop shares to jump more than 70%-InfoLens
"Roaring Kitty" trader returns, causing GameStop shares to jump more than 70%
View Date:2024-12-23 15:48:34
GameStop shares jumped more than 72% on Monday after trader Keith Gill, known online as "Roaring Kitty," resurfaced four years after he led an investment frenzy involving the video game retailer.
Gill is a former financial analyst at MassMutual who in late 2020 encouraged amateur retail investors to buy GameStop shares during the meme stock craze. He did this by posting on Reddit discussion boards and creating videos on YouTube about the strategy, gaining a large following in the process. But in 2021, Gill revealed that he had lost $13 million in one day from his investments in GameStop.
Gill was also slapped with a lawsuit in 2021, accusing him of profiting from "deceitful and manipulative conduct" in promoting the GameStop shares. After appearing before Congress to explain the meme stock craze, Gill's social media presence dwindled to nonexistence.
He resurfaced on X, Sunday night, with an image of a sketched man leaning forward in a chair, marking the end of a roughly three-year hiatus. He followed that post with several others featuring various comeback-themed videos featuring movie clips and charged music.
GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS MoneyWatch Monday.
GameStop was one of four struggling companies, including AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond and Blackberry, that retail investors on Reddit financially adopted during the pandemic, in a dual effort to keep the lights on at those companies as well as to put a "short squeeze" on hedge funds that bet against their long-term success.
Hedge funds did indeed suffer during GameStop's meme success. Citron Research, Melvin Capital and other funds lost an estimated $5 billion, the Associated Press reported in 2021, citing data from analytics firm S3 Partners. The firm told CBS MoneyWatch that hedge funds lost more than $1 billion from shorting GameStop on Monday.
GameStop had experienced declining sales amid an industrywide pivot from game cartridges to video game streaming and digital downloads, but with the help from meme stock investors, last March the company turned its first profit in two years. Before then, the company had posted seven straight quarterly losses. This January, GameStop reported its first annual profit since 2018.
Roaring Kitty's post helped bump GameStop's share price to $28.25 on Monday. GameStop's all-time high stock price is $120.75 in January 2021. Shares of AMC and Bed Bath also jumped slightly on Monday.
"Meme stock frenzy buying may be back with AMC up over 78% and DJT up over 1%," Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners said. "Short sellers may be in for a bumpy and bloody ride in these stocks."
Last September, GameStop appointed Chewy founder Ryan Cohen as its new CEO. In its most recent quarterly earnings from March, GameStop said it eliminated an unspecified number of jobs to help reduce costs. The Texas-based company posted $1.79 billion in revenue compared to $2.23 billion a year prior.
Khristopher J. BrooksKhristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. He previously worked as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald, Newsday and the Florida Times-Union. His reporting primarily focuses on the U.S. housing market, the business of sports and bankruptcy.
TwitterveryGood! (83342)
Related
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views
- Biden praises Schumer's good speech criticizing Netanyahu
- A warming island’s mice are breeding out of control and eating seabirds. An extermination is planned
- Princess Diana's Brother Worries About Truth Amid Kate Middleton Conspiracy Theories
- Gisele Bündchen Makes First Major Appearance Since Pregnancy
- Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su vows to remain in job even as confirmation prospects remain dim — The Takeout
- Keenan Allen said he told Chargers a pay cut was 'not happening' before trade to Bears
- N.C. State's stunning ACC men's tournament title could be worth over $5.5 million to coach
- Philadelphia mass transit users face fare hikes of more than 20% and possible service cuts
- When do new episodes of 'Invincible' come out? See full Season 2 Part 2 episode schedule
Ranking
- Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills
- Book excerpt: One Way Back by Christine Blasey Ford
- Kent State coach Rob Senderoff rallies around player who made costly foul in loss to Akron
- Cherry blossom super fan never misses peak bloom in Washington, DC
- Avril Lavigne’s Ex Mod Sun Is Dating Love Is Blind Star Brittany Wisniewski, Debuts Romance With a Kiss
- Undeterred: Kansas Citians turn for St. Patrick’s Day parade, month after violence at Chiefs’ rally
- 2024 NCAA women's basketball tournament bracket breakdown: Best games, players to watch
- Yale stuns Brown at buzzer to win Ivy League, earn automatic bid to NCAA Tournament
Recommendation
-
Cameron Brink set to make Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut
-
Undeterred: Kansas Citians turn for St. Patrick’s Day parade, month after violence at Chiefs’ rally
-
Man faces charges in two states after alleged killings of family members in Pennsylvania
-
When is First Four for March Madness 2024? Dates, times and how to watch NCAA Tournament
-
Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
-
South Carolina and Iowa top seeds in the women’s NCAA Tournament
-
NASCAR Bristol race March 2024: Start time, TV, streaming, lineup for Food City 500
-
What channel is truTV? How to watch First Four games of NCAA Tournament