MEOW! ‘Roaring Kitty’ Meme Stock Investor Returns to Social Media Sending GameStop and Other Meme Shares Soaring

The figure at the epicenter of the pandemic-fueled meme stock frenzy resurfaced online after a three-year absence, sparking a surge in the prices of multiple meme stocks including GameStop Corp. (GME) which is currently trading upwards ~70%.

Known as “Roaring Kitty,” Keith Gill made his online presence felt with an image shared on the social platform X depicting a man leaning forward in his chair—a meme symbolizing seriousness often used by gamers. This was followed by a YouTube video from years prior, where he passionately supported the struggling company GameStop, stating, “That’s all for now cuz I’m out of breath. FYI here’s a quick 4min video I put together to summarize the $GME bull case.”

In 2021, GameStop, a video game retailer, faced a dire future as consumer preferences shifted from physical discs to digital downloads. Large Wall Street hedge funds and investors bet against its survival, shorting its stock in anticipation of a continued downward spiral. Gill and his supporters, however, defied conventional wisdom and rallied behind GameStop, purchasing thousands of its shares despite prevailing metrics signaling trouble for the company.

This triggered a “short squeeze,” forcing the investors betting against GameStop to scramble and purchase its surging stock to mitigate their substantial losses.

Gill’s resurgence reignited the phenomenon, with GameStop shares more than doubling at the opening bell on Monday and continuing to trade significantly higher throughout the day. This marked the largest intraday trading surge for GameStop since the early 2021 meme craze, and other meme stocks also experienced substantial gains.

The surge in GameStop’s trading prompted eight halts due to volatility before noon on Monday. Gill gained widespread attention in 2021 for his posts on the Reddit subcategory Wallstreetbets, which sparked a battle between small investors and large hedge funds. Ultimately, the small investors emerged victorious, driving GameStop’s shares up by over 1,000% and causing substantial losses for hedge funds like Citron Research and Melvin Capital.

The surge extended to other meme stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), Koss Co. (KOSS), and BlackBerry (BB). However, some meme stocks, including GameStop and AMC, had already been experiencing upward momentum earlier in the month.

Despite the success of his investment in GameStop, Gill denied using social media to manipulate its stock price during a virtual Congressional hearing, simply stating, “I like the stock.”

Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, had previously disappeared from messaging boards after posting a video of kittens in June 2021. The story of Roaring Kitty and the meme stock craze was adapted into a movie called “Dumb Money” in the preceding year.