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Keith Gill, more popularly known by the moniker Roaring Kitty, currently exercises such a phenomenal level of control over GameStop shares and his devoted army of retail traders that the mere announcement of a live stream event yesterday was nearly sufficient to propel him to the billionaire club, with the OG meme stock veteran only failing to clinch that laurel courtesy of the fact that GameStop shares fell short of the requisite threshold by a mere $5. Today, the entire financial world is waiting with bated breath to see whether Roaring Kitty finally unveils his broader plan.
Moves And Countermoves Around GameStop
The latest leg of the meme stock mania 2.0 commenced on late Sunday night when Roaring Kitty revealed that he now owned 5 million physical GameStop shares, and retained control over an additional 12 million shares through his 120,000 call options on the stock. This stake of 17 million shares currently equates to around 5.57 percent ownership in GameStop, based on the company's 305.30 million shares outstanding.
Today, RoaringKitty, aka DeepFuckingValue, made nearly $586 million off his GameStop, $GME, options and shares.
He passed Nancy Pelosi in net worth, who has around $350 million. pic.twitter.com/11FbMiCvB1
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) June 7, 2024
While GameStop shares had been exhibiting strength throughout the current weak, Roaring Kitty supercharged the bullish sentiment in the stock yesterday afternoon by announcing a live stream event on Friday. The quintessential meme stock popped on the announcement and peaked in after-hours trading session at around $66 per share, a literal hair's breadth away from transforming Keith Gill into the world's newest billionaire. Even so, Roaring Kitty recorded gains of well over $500 million on Thursday, courtesy of the fierce stock pump that he helped unleash.
$GME | GameStop Q1 '24 Earnings Highlights:
🔹 Adj EPS: -$0.12 (Est. -$0.09) 😕
🔹 Revenue: $881.8M (Prelim. $$872M-$892M) 😑
🔸 No conference call will be held today.Key Metrics:
🔹 Net Loss: $32.3M (Prelim. $27M-$37M) 😑 (Prev. $50.5M net loss)
🔹 SG&A Expenses: $295.1M… pic.twitter.com/IBBjhIS0Yl— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 7, 2024
This brings us to today's morning session when GameStop announced its quarterly earnings unexpectedly, reporting net sales of just $881.80 million that missed Wall Street's consensus expectations of $995.30 million and corresponded to a significant year-on-year retrenchment relative to the $1.237 billion top-line figure that the company recorded in last year's comparable quarter. GameStop also reported an adjusted EPS of $-0.12, again missing consensus expectations of -$0.09.
However, the proverbial cherry on top came in the form of an at-the-market shelf offer of 75 million shares. This offer authorizes GameStop to sell up to 75 million shares at market prices from "time to time." The company recently raised around $933.40 million by selling 45 million shares under a similar arrangement which, incidentally, coincided with Roaring Kitty's GameStop pump of May 2024, constituting his first such move since 2021.
This shelf offer precipitated a selling wave in GameStop shares, with the stock declining from the $60 handle in yesterday's after-hours trading session to just around the $35 price level at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, Roaring Kitty's moves are attracting the attention of market makers and regulators. We reported recently that Morgan Stanley-backed E*TRADE brokerage platform was considering a ban on Keith Gill. Also, the SEC Chair Gary Gensler has implied in a recent interview that the SEC might also be investigating Gill's GameStop-related moves.
Roaring Kitty's Live Stream
This brings us to the crux of the matter. Roaring Kitty's streaming event has just gone live. We will continue to update this section with relevant sound bites from the stream. Over 570,000 people are currently tuned in to hear Roaring Kitty.
Keith Gill has negated the view that he is "working with someone else." This theory had gained resonance in light of Roaring Kitty's mammoth position in GameStop at the moment.
According to Roaring Kitty, investors should focus on Ryan Cohen and his ability to revive GameStop's waning fortunes, especially as he is not a "dufus" and the company is now sitting over a growing pile of billions of dollars.
Roaring Kitty has officially revealed his GameStop positions. His entire portfolio is currently worth over $350 million, including $29.409 million in cash.
Given the nothingburger nature of today's live stream, it is hardly surprising that GameStop shares are tanking hard right now.
