Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Saturday, December 14, 2024 79° Today's Paper


Top News

GameStop tumbles for second day as meme-stock rally fades

REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY/FILE PHOTO
                                Traders work under signage for GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, in August 2022. Shares of GameStop tumbled for a second consecutive session today, extending deep losses after stock influencer Keith Gill’s return to YouTube last week failed to spark fresh investor enthusiasm for the struggling shopping mall retailer.

REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY/FILE PHOTO

Traders work under signage for GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, in August 2022. Shares of GameStop tumbled for a second consecutive session today, extending deep losses after stock influencer Keith Gill’s return to YouTube last week failed to spark fresh investor enthusiasm for the struggling shopping mall retailer.

Shares of GameStop tumbled for a second consecutive session today, extending deep losses after stock influencer Keith Gill’s return to YouTube last week failed to spark fresh investor enthusiasm for the struggling shopping mall retailer.

Gill, known on YouTube as “Roaring Kitty,” held his first livestream in three years on Friday, the day GameStop unveiled its second share sale in days.

A key figure behind an eye-popping rally in GameStop in 2021, Gill joked about memes and interspersed his discussion of GameStop with several disclaimers in a livestream that by today had over 2.4 million views on YouTube.

GameStop shares sank today about 15% to $24.06, following a dive of nearly 40% on Friday after the company reported a drop in quarterly sales.

Also on Friday, GameStop said it would sell up to 75 million shares, days after it made $933 million by selling 45 million shares.

Gill acquired 5 million shares of GameStop at an average price of $21.274, according to details he shared on social media. In addition, he bought 120,000 GameStop June 21 call options at a strike price of $20 at $5.6754 per contract. Reuters was unable to verify the size and value of his holdings.

This afternoon, the options contracts were changing hands at $6.40 a contract, according to LSEG data.

Other so-called meme stocks also gave back recent gains today, with AMC Entertainment losing nearly 7% and headphone seller Koss down about 4%.

Shares of GameStop nearly tripled in value over two days through May 14 after an account associated with Gill returned to X.com, formerly called Twitter. Since then, GameStop shares have given up most of those gains, and the stock remains up about 37% so far in 2024.

The videogame retailer has been losing money for years as customers shift to online purchases, and its latest quarter was no different.


Additional reporting by Saqib Ahmed in New York.


By participating in online discussions you acknowledge that you have agreed to the Terms of Service. An insightful discussion of ideas and viewpoints is encouraged, but comments must be civil and in good taste, with no personal attacks. If your comments are inappropriate, you may be banned from posting. Report comments if you believe they do not follow our guidelines. Having trouble with comments? Learn more here.