GameStop stock could surge again if 'Roaring Kitty' returns to YouTube

By Gordon Gottsegen

Keith Gill broke his silence on X and Reddit. Could his YouTube account be next?

There almost seems to be a pattern.

On Sunday night, noted GameStop Corp. investor Keith Gill, who goes by "Roaring Kitty" or "DeepF-ingValue" on social media, posted an alleged screenshot of his position in the videogame retailer on Reddit. It was the first time Gill posted on his Reddit account since April 2021.

In turn, shares of GameStop (GME) surged in premarket trading, then hit $40.19 at Monday's market open - more than 70% higher than their previous close.

Gill did not immediately respond to a request for comment via Reddit.

Last month, something similar happened. Roaring Kitty took to X on May 12 and started posting a series of memes, his first posts since April 2021. The next day, shares of GameStop surged 74.4%, and then another 60.1% the day after.

With Roaring Kitty dusting off his old social-media accounts, some investors are wondering if his return to YouTube is coming next. And if so, will that affect GameStop's share price the way his other posts have?

Online brokerage E-Trade, used by Gill to invest in GameStop, is now reportedly considering kicking him off of the platform due to his ability to affect GME's share price with his posts, according to the Wall Street Journal. Talks about the matter began several weeks ago and no decision has been made yet, the Journal reported.

Also read: Roaring Kitty's GameStop position worth over $386 million as of Monday morning

Gill used to regularly post videos about GameStop in 2020 and early 2021, giving people insight into why he thought the company was worth investing in and providing updates on how his own positions were doing. Gill's old videos are still available to watch on his YouTube page, but none have been uploaded since April 2021 - about the same time his other social-media accounts went silent.

Could he break that silence on YouTube, just as he did on Reddit and X? When Gill used to be active on YouTube, he would often livestream his videos and respond to his viewers' live comments in the chat. These videos would also prominently feature his voice and face, personifying the man behind the kitty.

So far, the Reddit and X posts in 2024 have yet to feature Gill's face or voice, meaning it's been hard to confirm whether the person behind the recent Roaring Kitty posts is actually Keith Gill.

Gill was forced to testify in front of Congress in 2021 due to his auxiliary role in the 2021 meme-stock mania, so he may be nervous about confirming his identity. On top of that, his large GameStop holding may attract some unwanted attention.

If Gill were to upload a video of himself to YouTube, it could break this trend and cause further excitement - perhaps leading to further GameStop volatility.

David Lundgren, chief market strategist and portfolio manager at Little Harbor Advisors, believes that the 2021 meme-stock surge and 2024 resurgence has led to a recency bias among retail traders favoring GameStop.

"The first [meme-stock] squeeze built the community, so now that same community, for the most part, is primed and ready for the next target. It happens that it's also GameStop once again," Lundgren told MarketWatch.

Lundgren believes that this dynamic partially contributed to Monday's GME spike, but was hesitant to say if it could happen again if Roaring Kitty kept posting, since that would mostly be speculating. He also cautioned that many people could lose money by chasing this sort of short-term trade.

"I'd be shocked if it didn't, because that's what that community is assembled for. If you're a short-term day trader or swing trader, this is what you get out of bed in the morning for. But by large, it's likely that it's going to hurt more speculators than not," Lundgren said.

On Monday, GameStop closed at $28, which was higher than its close on Friday but a significant drop from its overnight high of $47.50. Similarly, GameStop shares pared a lot of their gains after hitting highs in May.

With a volatile stock like GameStop, it can be very difficult to time a trade correctly. One market-cycles expert predicted the GameStop rally would be a series of "descending spikes" - meaning we could see more peaks and quick selloffs.

However, it seems like peaks and quick selloffs aren't enough to deter Roaring Kitty - who on Monday afternoon followed up his Sunday night Reddit post by showing that he's still holding the same GME position as before. Perhaps we haven't seen the last of Roaring Kitty.

-Gordon Gottsegen

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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06-03-24 1752ET

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