Shares of Chewy (CHWY) rose as much as 30% on Thursday after the X account linked to investor Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” posted a photo of a dog. However, the stock quickly retreated and closed the day just below the flat line.
Posts to Gill’s account have sent shares of GameStop (GME) soaring over the past month and fueled a surge in trading in meme stocks.
After the market closed Wednesday, Chewy announced a $500 million stock buyback program. However, that news appeared to have little impact on the shares, which did not move higher during Thursday’s trading session until Gill’s tweet.
The account’s tweet at 1 p.m. ET sent Chewy’s shares soaring before the eventual pullback.
Gill recently spoke highly of GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, who is also the founder of Chewy, during a YouTube livestream.
Gill explained that his large position in GameStop was a “bet on management.”
“Especially Ryan f***ng Cohen, of course. Ryan Cohen and his crew,” Gill said. “That’s what people need to focus on,” Gill said.
Other pet stocks also took a hit after the tweet, with shares of both Petco (WOOF) and PetMed Express (PETS) rising in afternoon trading.
Notably, GameStop, which had previously surged following Keith Gill’s resurgence, was up just 5% on the day, little changed following the tweet. The meme craze revival began last month, when GameStop surged 180% in a two-day period after Keith Gill posted to X, formerly Twitter, for the first time since 2021. But the shares have since fallen as GameStop revealed a decline in revenue in the most recent quarter and issued more shares.
Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.
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