On Monday, there was a significant increase in the value of shares for GameStop Corp. (GME), owing to the return of Keith Gill, better known as "Roaring Kitty," on social media. The post Gill made on Sunday was his first since June 2021, and it quickly garnered over 17 million views.
Prior to Gill's post, GameStop's shares had already seen an upwards trend, with a rise of more than 60% from May 1 to the previous Friday. This trend continued, with the shares surging to an additional 118% in early trading on Monday after Gill's post. By midday, however, regulations designed to prevent extreme stock volatility had brought this figure down to approximately 70%.
The GameStop phenomenon is part of larger "meme stock craze," which persists as individual investors keep challenging short sellers and hedge funds who had held bearish outlooks on companies such as GameStop. This has resulted in forced short position coverings leading to increased stock prices.
The events of early 2021, when GameStop shares surged originally, resulted in some trading platforms, including Robinhood, to restrict their trading. Despite facing a class-action lawsuit – which was subsequently dismissed in August 2023 – Robinhood clarified that halting GameStop's stock purchases was due to restrictions that came into effect market-wide in response to increased volatility, not the other way around.
Remarkably, "Roaring Kitty" faded from online platforms in June 2021 after sharing a video of sleeping kittens. Nonetheless, the story including his involvement in the meme stock trend served as influence for the movie "Dumb Money."
Currently, GME is trading on Nasdaq at $31.19 per share, a rise of 78.67%, and it has seen a range between $9.95 and $38.15 over the last 52-week period.