It’s time for the IR community to brush back up on its knowledge of memes. On Monday, the X account of Keith Gill, the day trader at the heart of meme-stock mania in 2021, shared a message for the first time in three years.
His post showed an image of a man playing a video game, sitting forward in his chair. It’s a common meme in the video-gaming world, indicating things are getting serious and it’s time to concentrate. There was no mention of any stocks, yet GameStop immediately surged.
At time of writing, the retailer had climbed nearly 200 percent compared with last week’s closing price. Other members of the original meme-stock group, such as AMC and BlackBerry, also spiked dramatically. Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets community, meanwhile, is awash with posts about which company will be the next to pop.
Following that initial meme, Gill – under his X moniker Roaring Kitty – has continued posting, sharing more than two dozen videos featuring mashed-up clips from TV shows and movies, including Breaking Bad and No Country for Old Men.
Many scenes feature some kind of awakening or confrontation, and a number have text overlaid that references the stock market. One of the most recent shows the moment in Braveheart where Mel Gibson’s character cries out, ‘Freedom!’, but the video is overlaid with the word ‘GameStop’. Think: ‘Gamestoooooooopppppppp’.
The meaning behind these videos is not entirely clear but they echo the ‘us versus them’ mentality of 2021, when retail investors saw themselves as battling against a nasty group of short-selling hedge funds.
Will this round of meme-stock trading be as dramatic as three years ago? The initial signs are that they won’t. Reports suggest GameStop’s rally could already be petering out, and retail flows into the company have not climbed significantly.
For IR teams, it’s another reminder that retail investors, when acting as a group, can have a considerable impact on your stock price and volatility, especially for small caps.
While most don’t want to engage via Reddit, it’s worth thinking about how you do want to communicate with your retail holders and which channels would be most effective. Oh, and if you get confused by a meme, check out knowyourmeme.com.
What are your thoughts on the meme-stock resurgence? Let us know at tim.human@irmagazine.com or on LinkedIn.
