On Friday morning, GameStop unexpectedly reported its first-quarter earnings. The report, which had been scheduled for June 11, revealed sales dropped 28% to $881.8 million from $1.24 billion in the same period last year. It was a loss of $32.3 million for the quarter—not quite as much as the $50.5 million in losses a year ago.
With sales of hardware, software, and collectibles all trending downward, the company said it plans to sell up to 75 million additional shares of its common stock.
In research note, analyst Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge wrote: “While the numbers were ugly (steep Y/Y drop in sales and a net loss, along w/neg. free cash flow of ~$115MM), they were largely in line w/the preannouncement from back on 5/17.”
The plunge comes after Keith Gill, a well-known trader and meme stock booster, who goes by the names “Roaring Kitty” and “DeepF_Value,” resurfaced on social media after a three-year hiatus. Earlier in the month, Gill posted to Reddit, letting followers know he owns $116 million in GameStop shares. It was a signal to followers to start buying GameStop shares. He also announced he would hold his first YouTube live stream in nearly three years.
After Gill broke his silence, the stock went soaring. On Thursday, it was up 40% in anticipation of the live stream.
Meme stocks emerged around 2020 via the Reddit forum, r/wallstreetbets. It and other forums allowed users to work jointly to promote certain stocks. Gill helped ignite the meme stock rally with posts about the video game retailer. Subscribers to his YouTube channel jumped from 714,000 Thursday to 835,000 on Friday morning.
“The Roaring Kitty channel and live streams are for educational and entertainment purposes only,” the description reads. “I don’t provide personal investment advice or stock recommendations during the stream.”
While Roaring Kitty’s return did send GameStop’s stock on a bit of a roller coaster, analysts say the meme stock craze doesn’t carry as much weight in 2024 as it did three years ago. Vanda Research senior vice president Marco Iachini wrote in a research note this week that the enthusiasm will be short-lived.
“Quant/hedge funds are much better equipped to handle these situations nowadays,” Iachini wrote. “If anything, we believe the chances that they participate along with retail in the squeeze but also lean against and then exit these trades ahead of retail traders are high.”