GameStop (GME) stock was halted for volatility on Friday as more than 450,000 viewers waited for a much anticipated YouTube livestream from “Roaring Kitty,” an alias used in the past by bullish retail investor Keith Gill.
The livestream was expected to begin at noon ET. As of 12:20 p.m ET, the stream had not started. Shares of the video game retailer were down 22%.
The stock opened lower on Friday and was also halted for volatility earlier in the session after the company reported quarterly results that missed analyst estimates and announced a stock sale.
For the first quarter, GameStop posted an adjusted loss of $0.12 per share versus estimates of a loss of $0.09. Net sales dropped 29% to $882 million versus analyst estimates of $995.5 million. Wall Street was expecting the quarterly results later this month.
The company also filed to sell up to 75 million additional shares. Last month, GameStop sold 45 million shares, bringing in about $930 million in proceeds.
The announcements came on the heels of the stock’s 47% surge in the prior session after “Roaring Kitty” originally scheduled the livestream.
It would have marked Gill’s first live appearance on the channel since the investor helped ignite the meme stock rally in 2021 via his bullish videos and posts about the video game retailer.
After the market close on Thursday, “DeepF***ingValue,” a Reddit handle also previously associated with Gill, posted a screenshot purportedly showing the user’s portfolio ballooning to $586 million, including GameStop stock holdings and unexercised options positions.
Earlier this week, the same user revealed a $175 million bet on GameStop. Shares surged following that post too.
GameStop shares have been on a rollercoaster over the past month as Gill reemerged across social media, prompting some calls that Gill should be investigated.
“The fact that this individual bought short-dated call options on GameStop and then tweeted for the first time in forever — knowing full well that these Reddit WallStreetBets folks would then drive the stock price up … it is shady,” Loop Capital Markets managing director Anthony Chukumba told Yahoo Finance on Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this week, the office of the top securities regulator in Massachusetts confirmed to Reuters it has opened a probe into “Roaring Kitty’s” GameStop trades.
Late Monday, following the user’s emergence over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that executives at Morgan Stanley’s (MS) E-Trade platform were considering kicking off an account tied to the screenshot. Shares of GameStop fell roughly 5% the next day.
GameStop rallied 180% over a span of two days in mid-May after “Roaring Kitty” posted for the first time on X, formerly known as Twitter, since 2021.
Last month’s rally was short-lived, and analysts have warned that the meme action this time around is a far cry from the level of retail inflows seen three years ago.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
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