The recent surge in GameStop’s stock price, fueled by speculation around Keith Gill, has caught a lot of attention. GameStop shares jumped 84% in premarket trading, reaching $42.55. Gill, known as DeepF------Value on Reddit and Roaring Kitty on YouTube and X, returned to social media Sunday night, sharing a screenshot of his portfolio. This showed he holds 5 million shares of GameStop and 120,000 call options with a $20 strike price, set to expire on June 21st. While CNBC hasn’t confirmed this post, it has excited retail traders, reminiscent of the frenzy from three years ago.
Adding to the excitement, Gill posted a mysterious "Uno" reverse card image on X, increasing speculation within the Reddit trading community. This renewed interest in meme stocks led to big premarket gains for other companies, including a 24% rise in AMC after its 48% surge in May. Reddit’s stock also went up 5% on Monday. Gill’s influence on the market was clear three weeks earlier when his return to social media, marked by a simple image of a man leaning forward, triggered a dramatic rally in GameStop’s shares, which doubled in May. GameStop used this momentum to raise over $900 million through a stock sale.
Gill’s impact on the stock market highlights retail investors’ power to cause big market changes. In 2021, his support for GameStop led to a massive short squeeze, prompting brokerages like Robinhood to limit trading and resulting in congressional hearings on brokerage practices and the gamification of retail trading. Despite market ups and downs, GameStop continues to face challenges in shifting from physical stores to online gaming. Investors now look to CEO Ryan Cohen to guide this shift and renew the company’s business model.
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