GameStop stock surges, but Roaring Kitty’s influence is muted

GameStop stock, make no mistake, saw another noteworthy jump on Monday, boasting gains of about 27% in mid-day trading. But that was far below the more than 100% surge it saw Sunday night and before the market’s open on Monday. Meanwhile, a moderator of Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets community criticized Gill and the GameStop faithful, saying “This is not a GameStop subreddit.”

“Three years ago a bunch of people flooded in here to be a part of a trade because we were all stuck inside and had free money and it was funny. Many people ended up bagholding. Some people made a ton. … Now people watch movies like Dumb Money and think they’re fighting the man by holding some shares or something,” the moderator wrote. “Good luck [Roaring Kitty], crazy f—ing position, but your whole schtick and disappearance really f—ed retail [investing] up and it’d be nice if you didn’t leave them on a cliffhanger for the rest of the world to deprogram this time.”

Despite that criticism, Gill still has some Pied Piper-like qualities for some members of the Ape Army (the name adopted by individuals who swarm around companies such as GameStop and AMC). The latest surge in GameStop’s share price came after he posted a screenshot on Reddit over the weekend that showed a $116 million position in the struggling video game retailer, as well as a big options bet.

Gill, who was the focus of the film Dumb Money, has been an unabashed GameStop bull for years, posting on Twitter/X as Roaring Kitty and on Reddit under the name DeepF—ingValue. The Reddit account had been quiet for more than three years, but Gill resumed updates on Sunday, showing a holding of 5 million shares, purchased at $21.27 each.

Based on the share price Monday morning, that investment has increased in value by more than $39 million (though earlier in the day, it was more than $65 million).

Gill also claimed to have a call-option position worth $65.7 million, allowing him to purchase shares at $20, expiring June 21.

His positions could not be independently verified.