- Keith Gill conducted his first livestream in years on Friday, though it didn't stem a big decline in the stock.
- Gill reiterated his bullish view on GameStop, pinning hopes on CEO Ryan Cohen's turnaround strategy.
- The stock was halted numerous times during the stream. Here's what Gill talked about.
Keith Gill, the trader better known by his online persona Roaring Kitty, showed up to his long-awaited YouTube live stream nearly 30 minutes late, sporting fake bandages, sunglasses, and his arm in a sling.
The trader at the center of GameStop's massive rise since late 2020 didn't have much news to share with the nearly 650,000 viewers who tuned in at the stream's peak, though he revealed his E-Trade portfolio toward the end of the talk.
No surprise — his only position is GameStop stock and options.
GameStop stock plunged as much as 41% in volatile trading as RoaringKitty hit his stride during the livestream, which was his first in over three years.
The stock experienced multiple trading halts for volatility and traded more than 200 million shares, or about 650% higher than its 65-day average volume of 31 million shares.
After rambling about memes and pouring a beer while the stock was halted, Gill reiterated his bullish view on GameStop stock.
"The funny thing is that I have a lot of the same feelings about everything," Gill said.
His account snapshot revealed a $236 million paper loss on Friday, yet the trader seemed unfazed and giddy throughout the stream, with the live chat awash in comments praising his "diamond hands."
Much of Gill's bullish view on the video game retailer hinges on GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen's turnaround strategy. Cohen took over the company late last year. Cohen co-founded Chewy.com and helped grow the pet-focused e-commerce company into a multi-billion dollar company.
"If you just factor in that you don't think Cohen is a doofus… and you don't and you actually think not only is he not a doofus, but he's extremely talented and that he has the capability to turn this around," Gill explained.
"It becomes kind of a 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 to, I'm a believer right now. Let's see what happens from here. But I think with a significant amount of capital, I don't know let's see. Let's see where it goes from here," Gill said.
GameStop raised nearly a billion dollars in cash after last month's meme-stock rally and filed a prospectus Friday morning to sell another 75 million shares. After selling the latest tranche of shares, it could have as much as $3 billion in cash to reinvent itself.
Still, Gill later warned his followers, saying, "I get stuff wrong. I have historically, and I will in the future."
The stock, which was briefly positive in morning trading, plunged after the video game retailer unexpectedly announced first-quarter earnings, which revealed a 29% year-over-year drop in revenue. The company was scheduled to release its earnings next week. GameStop's stock price losses accelerated once Gill started his livestream.
Gill also revealed his portfolio, which was worth $350 million as of 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday.
Apart from talking about GameStop, Gill confirmed that he is behind all of his social media accounts and that he did not sell any as some on the internet had speculated.
Gill told viewers that only his money is behind his $350 million position in GameStop and that he is not working with anyone else.
He also said he has yet to see "Dumb Money", the movie about the GameStop saga in which Paul Dano portrays him.
"I'm rambling now at this point," Gill said.