GameStop (GME) shares experienced a significant boost on Thursday, soaring as much as 14% in afternoon trading, after Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” made a rare post on X (formerly Twitter), Investopedia reports.
Gill, a prominent figure in the 2021 meme stock phenomenon, shared a cryptic image that reignited interest in meme stocks.
The surge wasn’t limited to GameStop. AMC Entertainment (AMC), another favorite among meme stock traders, saw its shares climb by 13% before settling at a 5% increase later in the session. In contrast, shares of Chewy (CHWY), a frequent meme stock play, remained unaffected despite the buzz.
Gill’s post at 1:45 p.m. ET featured a fake TIME Magazine cover with an image of a desktop computer monitor and keyboard. By 3:45 p.m., the post had garnered 3.1 million views, driving speculative trading activity across meme stock communities.
Keith Gill, with 1.6 million followers on X, has a history of stirring meme stock rallies with cryptic posts. His return to social media in May 2023 after a long hiatus has been sporadic, but each appearance sparks intense speculation and market activity.
In September, a similarly cryptic post from Gill, interpreted by some as signaling a sale of his Chewy holdings, sent Chewy’s stock tumbling while lifting GameStop’s. Thursday’s activity mirrors this pattern, underscoring Gill’s ongoing influence on the meme stock movement.
By late Thursday afternoon, both GameStop and AMC had pared back some of their earlier gains, trading up 6% and 5%, respectively. Gill’s ability to catalyze dramatic price swings highlights the volatility and speculative nature of meme stock trading, driven as much by social media sentiment as by traditional market fundamentals.
