GameStop shares soared on Monday after Roaring Kitty, the man who inspired the 2021 meme stock frenzy, posted what appeared to be evidence of a massive position in the game retailer, the latest buying mania for the brick-and-mortar store following the meme stock celebrity’s return to social media after a years-long absence.
Meme stock GameStop rallied again on Monday in premarket trading.
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Key Takeaways
- Shares more than doubled in premarket trading on Monday morning, though gains later pared to $40.19 per share by the time markets opened, a jump of around 74%.
- Prices fell sharply once markets opened, though GameStop shares were still trading at around $31.15 per share around an hour after markets opened, a nearly 35% increase from the closing price on Friday.
- The rally comes after Keith Gill, who uses the handle “Roaring Kitty” on YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, posted a screenshot on social media suggesting he holds a nearly $116 million position in the game retailer.
- According to the portfolio screenshot, which he shared on Reddit’s r/Superstonk forum — he goes by the handle “DeepFuckingValue” on the platform — Gill holds 5 million shares of GameStop purchased at $21.27 per share.
- The post also revealed 120,000 call options — purchased for around $5.68 each and worth around $65.7 million — due to expire on June 21 with a strike price of $20.
- Gill’s post has not been independently verified by Forbes.
Crucial Quote
Under his Roaring Kitty handle, Gill posted a cryptic image of an UNO reverse card on X. The card is used to reverse the direction of play in the popular card game and in recent years the card has gained traction as a meme to indicate a comeback or some form of karmic retribution. As of writing, the post, which does not contain any text, has been viewed 5.6 million times. It’s been retweeted 15,000 times and received 57,000 likes.
Surprising Fact
In addition to fueling a rally in the GameStop meme stock, Gill’s post appears to have propelled a meme cryptocurrency of the same name to new heights as well. Solana-based memecoin GME has skyrocketed more than 230% over the last 24 hours and now has a market capitalization of $94.5 million.
Key Background
Gill is a legend among retail traders on social media and helped fuel a rally in meme stocks like GameStop back in 2021 through his posts on forums like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets. Gill has been largely absent from social media in the time since, though made a splash when he began posting again last month, reigniting a flurry of popular interest in the stocks. Gill’s return triggered a multi-day rally that pushed GameStock shares to nearly $50, though it lost around half of this value until his most recent posts.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
