GameStop experienced a significant surge in premarket trading on Monday after trader Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, revealed he held a substantial position in the game retailer.
A screenshot shared on a subreddit forum called Superstonk revealed he held 5 million GameStop shares bought at $21.27 each, worth around $116 million at close on Friday. It also suggested he had 120,000 call options bought at roughly $5.68 each and valued at approximately $65.7 million. These options have a strike price of $20 and are set to expire on June 21.
The post's authenticity has not been independently verified, and unlike previous updates, Gill did not post on the WallStreetBets forum, which was the hub of GameStop's 2021 trading frenzy, although he used the same username. Still, his followers are once again buzzing. On Sunday night, Gill shared an image of a green Uno reverse card on X, garnering over 60,000 likes and over 6 million views.
— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty) June 3, 2024
At the time of writing, shares in GME had risen by as much as 94% to $45.70 in pre-market trading, with prices now settling at around $28.00. The surge also put GameStop short sellers on track to rack up nearly $1 billion in paper losses at one point, according to data and analytics firm Ortex Technologies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, GameStop (GME) crypto on Solana also experienced a surge of more than 300%.
Gill returned to X (formally Twitter) three weeks ago with a splash. His first post, featuring a man leaning forward in a chair, ignited a bullish push among retail investors, sending GameStop stocks flying by 135% over two days.
Although that frenzy inevitably slowed, just last week, GameStop jumped again after the retailer revealed it had sold 45 million shares worth almost $9.4 million, capitalizing on the May rally. The company is due to report first-quarter results on June 11.
Kevin Gordon, a senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab, told the Financial Times that Monday’s pre-market move suggested “there’s still huge appetite [among the retail crowd] for this stock, whether healthy or not."
The industry continues to speculate about whether Gill is engaging in market manipulation, but CNBC host Jim Cramer backed Gill in a post this afternoon.
Nothing illegal if you buy calls and shows them
— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) June 3, 2024
Gill has near god-like status among so-called meme-investors, with plenty of fawning under his post, some declaring him the 'greatest trader of all time.'
On this bet, time will tell.
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