GameStop shares surged Friday after Keith Gill, whose relentless cheerleading under his online handle “Roaring Kitty” has spurred retail investors to back the struggling video game chain, revealed plans to appear on YouTube for the first time in three years.
The Roaring Kitty YouTube channel, which has more than 700,000 subscribers, revealed that Gill has scheduled a June 7 livestream. This news propelled GameStop’s stock price by 47% to $47.55 under the ticker symbol “GME.”
A former financial analyst turned social media influencer, Gill holds a notable stake in GameStop shares, surpassing $115 million as per a recent Reddit post.
lPrior to March, GameStop had posted seven straight quarterly losses. In January, the company reported its first annual profit since 2018.
The company appointed Ryan Cohen, the billionaire founder of online pet supplies company Chewy, as its new CEO last September. As of February, GameStop had 4,169 locations, including 2,915 in the U.S.
Gill’s online presence resurfaced three weeks ago, triggering a spike in GameStop’s stock. His cryptic image shared on X hinted at his return, reigniting investor interest. While Gill had been active on YouTube during the pandemic when many turned to investing, he retreated from the scene in 2021 post his testimony before Congress on the “meme stock” phenomenon.