It’s been three years since GameStop’s stock originally exploded during the pandemic as big-time investors capitalized on an internet feud between deep-pocketed hedge funds and very online Redditors. Now the meme stock is back for round two after Roaring Kitty, AKA Deep Fucking Value, AKA Keith Gill, the WallStreetBets commentator who was one of the earliest and loudest champions of GameStop’s market upside, returned from a three-year hiatus.
The former life insurance marketer whose involvement in the 2021 meme stock hijinks took him to Washington D.C. to testify before congress and led to a Hollywood dramedy, Dumb Money, in which he was portrayed by Paul Dano, tweeted for the first time in over 1,000 days last night. The post was simple. Just a sketch of a man sitting in a chair with a controller beginning to lean in. This morning, GameStop’s stock price jumped over 100 percent, from $17 a share to over $36.
CNBC reported that the GameStop trading was halted multiple times due to the volatility. The electric shock sent through the gaming brick-and-mortar chain’s corpse like Dr. Frankenstein bringing his monster back to life comes after years of layoffs, executive departures, mismanaged strategy pivots, and floundering faith among the meme stock’s biggest cult of online boosters. GameStop reported $1.79 billion in revenue last quarter, down from $2.23 billion the year prior.
Gill’s social media posts and YouTube videos making the business case for GameStop’s hidden value made him a legend among fellow meme stock day-traders and edgelords on Reddit. But after the initial frenzy calmed down, he told fans he was going away for a while to focus on his family. At the peak, Gill’s investments in GameStop were worth over $40 million. It’s unclear how much of his shares he ever actually sold. The last time he disclosed his position to fellow meme stock boosters, it seemingly showed him doubling down on the chain.
