(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock market animal drinks have surged into a handful of meme stocks following a cryptic X post from Keith Gill, the internet personality known as Roaring Kitty, who shot to fame in 2021 amid meme mania.
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Shares of GameStop Corp., one of Gill’s early favorites in the January 2021 meme craze, jumped 14% to cap volatility before paring most of the gain to end the day up 5.9%. AMC Entertainment, another favorite of the era, also erased some of the surge to close 5.9% higher.
The trader posted a mockup of a Time magazine cover depicting a blank computer screen with a YouTube-like media player. The image appears to be an edited version of the December 25, 2006 cover of Time magazine, when “You” was named “Person of the Year” by the American public.
Without accompanying text to provide clues as to the message’s meaning, day traders took other logical steps. Shares of Unity Software Inc. – ticker U – rose 8.2% on the day, while airport security systems operator Clear Secure Inc. – ticker YOU – quickly pared earlier losses of 4.6%. Shares of Unity ended the day 4.9% higher, while Clear Secure fell 1.1%.
The meme-style rally comes amid growing signs of overexertion in US financial markets. Bitcoin tops $100,000 for the first time, while stocks hit new records and credit spreads remain tight.
This is Gil’s first X post since September, when a similarly cryptic image of a dog inserted into a frame from the Toy Story film franchise sparked a brief spike in meme sharing. In June, shares of Chewy Inc. and Petco Health and Wellness Co. jumped after Gill posted another photo of a cartoon dog on X. He disclosed his 6.6% stake in July before divesting his position entirely, according to an October filing with the SEC.
Shares of GameStop also rose in June when Gill planned to return to his YouTube channel, which gained popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic but fell after a subsequent live stream. Gill has made excellent returns investing in a video game retailer under siege during 2020 and 2021.
The announcement from Gill on Thursday led to a flurry of options activity, with traders buying options on Unity options to the highest volume since September 24, while the one-month wheel skew more than doubled from the previous day.
