GameStop Corp jumped close to 50% in early trading on Monday as meme stock trader Roaring Kitty reemerged on social media after a three-year absence.
In a post on X, Roaring Kitty shared a sketched picture of a video gamer sitting forward on a chair, indicating jokes among such players that things had begun to get serious.
— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty) May 13, 2024
Roaring Kitty, run by former Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance trader Keith Gill, had been credited with sparking the 2021 meme stock rally.
This saw retail investors club together via social media to drive up GameStop shares in a bid to take aim at short sellers who were pessimistic about the company’s outlook.
Hedge funds, such as Melvin Capital, were forced to sell their positions against GameStop and incur losses as a result, as shares climbed from as low as US$3 to US$120 in a matter of months.
GameStop has since largely fallen back, with short positions, indicating bets against, accounting for over 24% of its issued stock.
Shares opened 49.3% higher at US$26.07 on Monday following Roaring Kitty’s post.
“[He] seems to be the most likely suspect for the renewed interest today [...] but I would be careful not to characterize the participants in this phenomenon as investors," B Riley Wealth chief market strategist Art Hogan said.