Roaring Kitty could soon face some roaring regulation.
Keith Gill, the "Roaring Kitty" meme stock investor who last month revived frenzied trading of GameStop and AMC Entertainment shares, revealed in a Reddit post on Sunday that he had bought nearly $116 million worth of GameStop stock.
The screenshot also showed he bought 120,000 call options with a $20 strike price. That means that Gill has the right to purchase 120,000 shares of GameStop at $20 apiece by a set expiration date. GameStop shares closed Wednesday at $46.55 a share, more than double the price locked in by those options. A screenshot on Monday revealed that he made $54 million worth of gains on paper during just one trading session.
Gill posted a fresh image on Thursday showing that he has not sold any of his GameStop position since the Monday screenshot and that his holding is now worth more than $500 million. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the screenshots.
Gill's return to social media sent meme stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment soaring, reminiscient of the frenzy that swept markets in 2021. Meme stocks are shares of companies with a cult following that tend to see wide swings based on their popularity on social media rather than their fundamentals.
The apparent staggering value of his portfolio, along with the large trading volumes of GameStop and AMC Entertainment shares in recent weeks, has brought into question whether Gill's actions require regulatory scrutiny. Gill hasn't explicitly told anyone to buy GameStop shares or that he thinks it's headed to the moon. He has communicated exclusively by posting memes, gifs, short video clips and screenshots of his portfolio. It's unclear if it even is Gill behind those posts.
But Wall Street is still taking notice. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that trading platform E*Trade, from which the screenshots appear to originate, is weighing removing Gill. The Journal also reported that Gill bought a "large volume" of GameStop options before he posted on X in May for the first time in three years.
Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, said that Gill's activity could be considered unethical. But Woods doesn't believe it's criminal, especially considering that the trader hasn't urged anyone to buy the stock — or really said anything at all.
Morgan Stanley, which owns E*Trade, declined to comment for this story. Gill did not respond to requests for comment.
To be sure, Gill isn't the first trader to inspire copycats. Warren Buffett is famously one such investor whose holdings are closely watched: Berkshire Hathaway, of which Buffett is chief executive, in May disclosed a stake worth roughly $6.7 billion in Chubb, sending the insurance firm's stock higher. But Chubb shares have risen just 4% since Buffett's stake was revealed. In comparison, shares of GameStop and AMC Entertainment have surged 167% and 99%, respectively, since Gill's return to social media.
"Would I compare Keith Gill to Warren Buffett? No, but [Gill's] influence is very similar. People want to be riding his coattails," said Woods.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into GameStop call options trading activity around the time of Gill's social media posts as concerns swirl internally that his trading activity could be considered manipulation, according to the Journal. An SEC spokesperson told CNN that it "does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation."
It's unclear whether any regulatory action could quell Gill's staunch supporters or embolden them even more. Traders who helped stoke the 2021 meme stock frenzy touted a story of the underdog Main Street's victory against tyrannical Wall Street: Retail investors bid up shares of GameStop and other meme stocks, leading to steep losses for hedge funds that made trades based on the assumption their prices would drop. Any regulatory backlash against Gill has the potential to create a similar narrative this time around.
In a surprise move, GameStop brought forward its first quarter earnings to Friday from next Tuesday. The video game retailer recorded a loss of $32.3 million, slightly better than the $50.5 million loss the prior year. First-quarter sales slipped to $0.9 billion, from $1.2 billion the year before.
The company could be trying to get ahead of a livestream on the Roaring Kitty YouTube channel slated to air at 12 pm ET on Friday. Wall Street will be tuning in not just for the entertainment but also clues about Gill's next moves and their possible implications for trading regulations.
"There are ramifications, because people want to know exactly what we can and can't do online," said Woods. "These [market] moves are not normal moves."
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