After "Retail Investors Leader" live broadcast for 50 minutes, GameStop's decline expanded from 32% to 40%

At around 12:25 pm Eastern Time on Friday, June 7th, Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty" on Twitter and YouTube under the username "咆哮小猫", started a YouTube live stream.

Prior to his live stream, GameStop (GME), claimed to be his only stock holding, dropped by 32.05% to $31.63, causing a temporary trading halt due to the significant decline. During the live stream, the stock continued to fall and triggered multiple circuit breakers, dropping over 40% by the end of the 50-minute live stream.

Analysts suggest that if this decline continues until the market close, it will mark GameStop's largest single-day drop since February 4, 2021, when it dropped by 42%, and will also be the company's fourth worst trading day in history.

Another volatile stock held by retail investors, AMC Theatres, also experienced a significant decline, dropping by 14% by the end of the live stream.

It is worth noting that Gill appeared on the live stream with bandages on his head, and multiple band-aids on his face and arms, although he claimed to be pretending to be injured. The live stream was somewhat rambling, but light-hearted, ending with Gill chugging a glass of beer in one go.

The background of the entire live stream was the real-time trading chart of GameStop's stock price. Due to multiple trading halts, Gill kept asking the audience, "Is my computer frozen?" Within the first 5 minutes of the live stream, over 600,000 viewers were watching online.

This was Gill's first video live stream in nearly four years, with fans online wishing him a happy birthday on June 8th.

He mentioned that GameStop is the only holding in his investment portfolio, "My aggressive investment style is probably not suitable for you guys." The screenshots he shared included 5 million shares of GameStop common stock and 120,000 call options.

He expressed confidence in Ryan Cohen, the billionaire CEO of GameStop and founder of Chewy, an online pet retailer, saying, "I believe in this person, it's a bit based on my gut feeling." He did not elaborate on why GameStop is a good value investment during the three-hour live broadcast in August 2020, but reiterated that GameStop is in the "second phase" of his investment logic, with the company currently "resizing" and cutting costs to stabilize its traditional business:

"The focus now is on transformation, which is also a test of management's capabilities, and this is what people should pay attention to."

Gil said there were no lawyers present during the live broadcast, "but maybe I should have one." He stated that he has no institutional investors behind him and will not collaborate with others or hedge funds. Previously, Andrew Left, the founder of Citron Research, speculated that Gil may now receive support from large professional investors due to the size of his position.

In 2021, Gil attended a U.S. congressional hearing as the "leader" of retail investors in the battle against institutions. He also faced several class-action lawsuits, one of which accused him of pretending to be a novice trader despite being a licensed financial professional. Gil then disappeared from social media until May this year when he returned and sparked another surge in retail investor stocks like GME.

During today's live broadcast, Gil mentioned that he has not watched the full movie "Dumb Money" released this year. This is an American biographical comedy-drama film adapted from the GameStop "retail investors squeeze institutions" event during the 2020 pandemic. He also stated that this live broadcast does not have a specific theme, "just want to see what everyone is up to."

Prior to the live broadcast, GameStop unexpectedly released its first-quarter earnings four days early, which was originally planned to be released after hours next Tuesday.

The financial report showed no signs of improvement in the company's operations. Net sales for the quarter were $881.8 million, a 29% year-on-year decrease, falling short of Wall Street's expectations of $900 million to $1.09 billion. The quarterly loss of $32.3 million narrowed from $50.5 million in the same period last year.

The company also plans to further issue 75 million shares, expecting to raise up to $3 billion, but did not provide a detailed financing timetable. In May, GameStop announced the issuance of 45 million shares, raising over $900 million at the time.

Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management, described GameStop's above actions as "striking while the iron is hot." Another retail investor favorite stock, AMC Theatres, received praise for using the surge in stock prices to clean up its balance sheet, prompting GameStop to follow suit. Last month, after AMC's stock price soared, they issued $250 million worth of shares at market price.

In 2021, Gil's endorsement of GameStop helped its stock price surge by 160% at one point, followed by a sharp decline. Since Gil resumed posting on social media in early May this year, GameStop has risen by 60% with significant volatility, with the stock surging nearly 50% on Thursday due to the live broadcast hype. From the second quarter to date, the stock has more than doubled, rising nearly 125%, and despite a big drop on Friday, it has risen over 20% this week Analysts have suggested that from last Sunday's release of the E-Trade account screenshot to Thursday, Jill's bet on GameStop yielded a paper profit of $375 million. If the stock closes above $20 on June 21, he can exercise call options to buy 12 million shares, increasing his total holdings to 17 million shares and becoming the fourth largest shareholder of GameStop. However, selling these options would cause GME's stock price to plummet.

Today, Jill also warned E-Trade, a brokerage under Morgan Stanley, not to delete his account. On Monday, there were reports that Morgan Stanley's global financial crimes department and external legal advisors were discussing whether to stop serving Jill, out of concern that his actions could lead to potential market manipulation charges