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GameStop Shares Gain Over 70%, Halts on Volatility After ‘Roaring Kitty’ Post
GameStop Stock (GME) soared as much as 110% on Monday before paring gains, and was halted due to volatility numerous times after “Roaring Kitty,” the person seen as kickstarting the meme stock frenzy during the pandemic, posted online for the first time since 2021.
The stock surpassed $30 per share on Monday. The stock was trending higher, rising about 60% over the past two weeks.
“Roaring Kitty”, who was identified that year as Keith Gill, became a prominent figure on the WallStreetBets subreddit and YouTube for his bullish stance on GameStop (GME).
Sunday’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, included a meme of a video game player leaning forward, appearing to take the game seriously. The post received more than 81 thousand likes and 9 thousand comments. The last time Roaring Kitty posted on X was in June 2021.
He was known for posting comments about why GameStop would rise and eventually testified before Congress about the massive short squeeze in January 2021, spurred by an army of retail traders.
Short interest on GameStop is around 24% of the float, according to data from S3 Partners.
“Including today’s losses, GME shorts are down -$1.34 billion in cumulative losses for the month of May, and are now down -$952 million for the year,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners , told Yahoo Finance on Monday.
Monday’s selloff follows a recent rally in meme-related stocks. Theater network operator AMC (AMC) gained as much as 50% during the session, while Trump Media & Technology (DJT) gained 8%.
“Short sellers could be in for a rough and bloody ride in these stocks,” Dusaniwsky said.
As Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre recently noted, the recent rise in meme stock it does not appear to be the ominous sign it was in the past, but rather a healthy risk appetite for investments.
A screen displays the GameStop logo and business information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, USA, on March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (REUTERS/Reuters)
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.
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