GameStop shares surge 103% as dormant Reddit user returns

GameStop Corp. shares more than doubled after the Reddit account that drove the meme-stock mania of 2021 posted what appeared to be a $116 million position in the game retailer.

The June 2 screenshot by Keith Gill, who goes by DeepF— Value on Reddit, shows five million shares bought at $21.27 per share. It was the account’s first post in three years. The screenshot, which also included 120,000 call options worth $65.7 million due to expire on June 21, couldn’t be verified. The options would allow him to buy the stock at $20 per share.

GameStop shares rose as much as 103% in premarket trading on Monday, before paring the advance. If premarket gains hold, the stock is set to add about $8 billion to its market capitalization.

On social media platform X, Gill, using his account handle “Roaring Kitty,” also posted an image of a UNO reverse card, which is used by players in the game to change the card-pickup direction. The post had attracted more than 5.3 million views in about eight hours since its publication at about 8 p.m. Sunday New York time.

pic.twitter.com/zUuccrKWZr

— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty) June 3, 2024

“Recent renewed interest in meme stocks, coming as the main US indices struggle to make new highs, is a sign of excessive over exuberance and is more likely a negative portent given the rising headwinds in the markets,” Robert Lea, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said.

Gill had largely been silent on social media since he rallied day-traders on Reddit in 2021 to buy the stock to push back on short sellers, arguing then that the company was poised to “reinvent” itself as a premier gaming hub.

In mid-May, he returned to X with an image of a video gamer leaning in, fueling anticipation that he will actively return to the market.

GameStop shares have fallen more than 50% since a two-day rally triggered by his mid-May post. The stock famously soared more than 2,000% in early 2021, bringing the meme-stock frenzy into the broader public consciousness.

In his last previous post on Reddit on April 16, 2021, Gill posted a screenshot that showed he held 200,000 GameStop shares, or about $30.9 million worth at the time.

Gill posted his latest Reddit post on r/Superstonk subforum on Reddit, which is “a place for theoretical discussions about GameStop stock.”