GameStop’s stock price soared on Monday after the man who became the face of “meme stock” mania in 2021 with his enthusiastic promotion of the struggling video game retailer emerged from a three-year hiatus. .
On Sunday night, Keith Gill, the trader known on some social media platforms as Roaring Kitty, posted an illustration of a person holding a video game controller while leaning forward in an X-shaped chair. With no other news, the stock GameStop shares more than doubled in early trading, prompting several temporary volatility-related halts by the New York Stock Exchange.
The company’s shares hit a two-year high, adding billions to market value in a matter of hours. During the frenzy, Gill posted a series of cryptic clips from movies, TV shows and music videos, including the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the TV series “Game of Thrones” and the song “Stand Up” by Ludacris. But even after Monday’s surge, GameStop stock remained well below the highs it reached in 2021.
Gill gained a cult following among day traders during the coronavirus pandemic with animated, irreverent videos on YouTube and posts on Reddit arguing that GameStop was undervalued. In 2021, that stock and others, like AMC Entertainment, soared in value as armies of small investors amassed, boosting each other in online forums filled with memes and jokes and light on discussions of traditional financial fundamentals.
Amid the market chaos, hedge funds betting against meme stocks exploded and trading apps struggled to keep up. The chaos inspired the 2023 film “Dumb Money,” directed by Craig Gillespie.
Mr Gill has been silent for the last few years. He defended himself against a lawsuit from a trader who lost money against him and his former employer, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. A federal judge in Massachusetts dismissed the lawsuit in February.
The illustration Gill posted on Sunday, after last posting images of sleeping kittens on June 18, 2021, was posted by GameStop on X in February. The company included the legend “from casual to competitive.”
Redditors on the WallStreetBets forum interpreted Mr. Gill’s latest posts as bullish for GameStop. One Redditor wrote, “Oh, we’re back,” and included a screenshot of GameStop’s stock price surge.
Prices of other meme stocks also rose on Monday: AMC shares rose more than 40 percent. And Reddit shares rose 10 percent, hitting their highest point since March, shortly after the company’s initial public offering.