FILE - In this image from video provided by the House Financial Services Committee, Keith Gill, a GameStop investor, also known in social media forums as Roaring Kitty, testifies during a virtual hearing on GameStop in Washington, Feb. 18, 2021. The man at the center of the meme stock craze during the pandemic returned to the social platform X for the first time in three years Sunday, May 12, 2024, and sent prices of those stocks surging overnight.
Two hours before the opening bell Monday it appeared that Gill had revived that interest as shares of Gamestop surged 40%. Gill became a cause célèbre in 2021 after his posts on the Reddit subcategory Wallstreetbets ignited a Wall Street battle between thousands of smaller retail investors and large hedge funds that were betting heavily against the survival of GameStop, shorting its stock.
The small guys won, at least for a while, driving shares of GameStop up more than 1,000% in 2021, and other meme stocks as well. The struggling movie theater chain AMC jumped 2,300% in the same year.Shares of GameStop Corp., which have faded steadily since 2021, are up 57% this month. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., is up 10% over the past 30 days.
Koss Co. a headphone manufacturer, is up 37% this month and BlackBerry, the one time dominant smartphone maker, is up 4%. The retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond, another meme stock,