GameStop, AMC shares skyrocket after meme stock trader posts for first time in 3 years

The trader known as Roaring Kitty, who played a big role in the meme stock frenzy last year, made a surprise comeback on social media. They shared a cartoon of a gamer on X, and GameStop shares went through the roof!

After three years of silence, Keith Gill’s account posted a meme on X, and GameStop shares shot up by a whopping 74% on Monday. Earlier in the day, they even surged over 110% and had to be halted multiple times due to the volatility.

Those who bet against GameStop, known as short sellers, faced massive losses of around $1 billion on Monday. Short sellers borrow shares, sell them, and then buy them back at a lower price to make a profit. But with GameStop’s rise, they got hit hard. Even shares of AMC Entertainment, another meme stock, jumped by 78%, and Reddit shares climbed about 9%. Robinhood Markets, the trading platform that suspended purchases of GameStop and AMC during the frenzy last year, saw its shares rise by 4%.

The meme that Gill shared shows a guy leaning forward in a chair, holding a video game console. GameStop had actually posted the same cartoon in February, but Gill’s version has a red arrow and chair instead of blue. It’s interpreted as saying, “when things get serious.” Pretty cool, right?

CNN reached out to Gill for comment, but no response yet.

GameStop shares triggered multiple circuit breakers, which temporarily pause trading to let investors cool down. And just to clarify, Robinhood denied rumors on social media that it had once again halted GameStop stock purchases on its platform. They confirmed that it’s not true.