The value of GameStop's shares went up a lot on Monday after the same inexperienced trader who caused the 2021 meme stock craze for the video game seller returned to social media. 2021 meme stock frenzy over the video game retailer returned to social media.
GameStop's shares rose by almost 70% on Monday morning, reaching about $30 per share from a closing price of $17.39 on Friday. The shares had reached just below $36 on Monday morning, the highest price since 2022.
The comeback of GameStop's shares seemed to start from a social media post on Sunday by Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill, who made the case for buying the company's shares in 2020 and set the stage for the frenzy in 2021.
Gill posted a picture of a man suddenly sitting up in a chair on X with no accompanying text or message. This was his first appearance on the platform since June 2021, when he posted a short video of several sleeping kittens before going silent on X for nearly three years.
Gill was better known for his YouTube videos and presence on the Reddit subforum r/WallStreetBets as a user named “deepf—ingvalue.” He and a group of individual investors on WallStreetBets initiated a “short squeeze” against investors who bet against GameStop, causing major losses at a prominent New York hedge fund.
GameStop was struggling after the pandemic as consumers rapidly shifted from discs to digital downloads. Gill and his supporters breathed new life into the company, which seemed to be heading towards bankruptcy.
GameStop's shares reached a peak near $82 in January 2021 before dropping sharply and then fluctuating during 2021 and 2022. The meme stock craze caused a stir on Wall Street and raised concerns among policymakers, who were worried about the impact of social media-driven fluctuations in the stock market.
While Gill and his employer MassMutual faced a barrage of lawsuits, they were not charged with any criminal offenses despite demands from the Wall Street elite to clamp down on the meme stock frenzy.
Some meme stocks, such as GameStop and AMC, had already been rising before Gill’s return.
GameStop's shares had already increased by 57% this month. AMC Entertainment, another target of meme stocks, had risen by 10% over the past 30 days.
The Associated Press contributed.
