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Keith Gill, a.k.a. Roaring Kitty a.k.a. the guy behind the GameStop short squeeze back in 2021, has tweeted for the first time in 3 years and has subsequently caused the stocks of both GameStop and AMC to rise.
Gill’s tweet — an illustration of a man sitting forward in his chair while video gaming, which is colloquially known on the internet as the symbol for “locking in” — was posted on Sunday, May 12, marking his first tweet since June 18, 2021.
As of Monday, May 13, the price of GameStop has risen 99% over the last five days. As for AMC, its price has grown 20% in just one day.
The spike of the price of GameStop and AMC stock hasn’t gone unnoticed on the internet as memes about the popular phenomenon have already begun to flood social media.
“GameStop shares are more than 70% below their 2021 peak, but the stock remains exponentially higher than its sub-$1 share price for much of 2019 and 2020, notching a sustained victory that eluded other meme stocks like Bed Bath & Beyond, which went bankrupt last spring, and AMC Entertainment, which faces bankruptcy rumors as its shares sit 99% below their 2021 high.” [via Forbes]
The GameStop short squeeze, which first gained momentum on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, escalated to such an extent — its peak came in late January 2021, with GME hitting $347.51 per share — that brokerage service app Robinhood controversially halted the buying of GameStop stock, which irreparably damaged the company’s reputation and resulted in countless lawsuits.
The GameStop short squeeze became such a ubiquitous pop culture moment that it was turned into a feature film titled Dumb Money, which was released in 2023.
Gill was portrayed by Academy Award nominee Paul Dano, who starred in the Craig Gillespie-directed film alongside Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Pete Davidson, America Ferrera, Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, and more.