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Keith Gill hosted his first livestream in years on Friday, although this did not stop the stock’s big drop.
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Gill reiterated his bullish view on GameStop and pinned hopes on CEO Ryan Cohen’s turnaround strategy.
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The stock was cut several times during the flow. This is what Gill was talking about.
Keith Gill, the trader better known by his online persona Roaring Kitty, appeared nearly 30 minutes late on his highly anticipated YouTube livestream, wearing fake bandages, sunglasses and his arm in a sling.
The trader at the center of GameStop’s meteoric rise since late 2020 didn’t have much news to share with the nearly 650,000 viewers who tuned in at the peak of the stream, though he did reveal his E-Trade portfolio toward the end of the talk.
No surprise: His only position was GameStop stock and options.
GameStop shares fell as much as 41% in volatile trading as Gill gained steam during the livestream, his first in more than three years.
The stock saw multiple trading halts due to volatility and traded more than 200 million shares, about 650% higher than its 65-day average volume of 31 million shares.
After rambling on about memes and pouring a beer while the stock was halted, Gill reiterated his bullish view on GameStop stock.
“The funny thing is, I have the same feelings about everything,” Gill said.
His account snapshot showed a paper loss of $236 million on Friday, but the trader appeared unfazed and giddy throughout the stream, while the live chat was flooded with comments praising his “diamond hands.”
Much of Gill’s optimistic view of the video game retailer hinges on GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen’s turnaround strategy. Cohen took over the company at the end of last year. He co-founded Chewy and helped grow the pet-focused e-commerce platform into a billion-dollar company.
“If you take that into account, you don’t think Cohen is a doofus,” Gill said, adding, “And you don’t and you actually think not only that he’s not a doofus, but that he’s extremely talented and that he has the capabilities to turn this around.”
He added: “It will be a kind of bet on the team. And from what I’ve seen so far, I think – I reserve the right to change my mind, as you should too – I’m a believer in it now. Let’s see what happens from here. But I guess with a significant amount of capital I don’t know, let’s see where it goes.”
GameStop raised nearly $1 billion in cash after last month’s meme-stock rally and filed a prospectus Friday morning to sell an additional 75 million shares. After selling its latest tranche of shares, the company could have as much as $3 billion in cash to reinvent itself.
Yet Gill later warned his followers, saying, “I’ve gotten things wrong. Historically I have, and I will in the future.”
The stock, which was briefly positive in morning trading, tumbled after the video game retailer unexpectedly released its first-quarter earnings results, which showed a 29% year-over-year sales decline. The company is expected to announce its earnings next week. GameStop’s stock price losses accelerated as soon as Gill started his livestream.
Gill also revealed his portfolio, which was worth $350 million as of 1 p.m. ET on Friday.
In addition to talking about GameStop, Gill confirmed that he is behind all of his social media accounts and that he has not sold any, as some on the internet had speculated.
Gill told viewers that his money alone was behind his $350 million position in GameStop and that he is not working with anyone else.
He added that he had not yet seen “Dumb Money,” the movie about the GameStop saga in which Paul Dano portrays him.
“I’m rambling now,” Gill said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
