By Suzanne McGee
(Reuters) – GameStop’s annual meeting, scheduled for Monday, is creating growing buzz on social media among the company’s many passionate retail investor fans.
Shares of the video game retailer have fluctuated wildly over the past month after Keith Gill, the stock influencer known as Roaring Kitty who helped launch 2021’s meme stock mania, re-emerged and subsequently revealed a large position in GameStop.
Monday’s annual general meeting scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET comes after a meeting scheduled for this week was adjourned due to a technical issue resulting from high demand from shareholders wanting to access the online feed, according to a spokesperson. word of Computershare, which hosts the online stream. – gathering only.
“Unprecedented demand from shareholders seeking access to GameStop’s annual general meeting led to a technical issue that prevented some investors from passing through, and the meeting was adjourned,” Computershare said.
It was not immediately clear to analysts and investors what issues would be discussed at the meeting or whether Gill, who reiterated his bullish case for GameStop during a livestream earlier this month, would attend or online.
The company’s last shareholder meeting, in June 2023, lasted less than 15 minutes and included a brief statement from CEO Ryan Cohen.
GameStop confirmed the technical issue in a press release but did not respond to requests for further comment. Gill did not respond to requests for comment.
That hasn’t stopped Roaring Kitty fans from speculating about whether this meeting will take place. Some created their own memes ahead of the meeting, with one posted on X showing Gill’s image photoshopped onto that of a rock star strutting across a stage in front of a huge crowd.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the messages and the authors did not respond to requests for comment.
Gill sparked the latest wave of exuberance among retail investors after revealing ownership of 5 million GameStop shares and 120,000 $20 strike call options in June in a screenshot posted to Reddit on June 2.
Gill updated his position Thursday to show he now owns about 9 million shares and no options on the company. Gill may have sold all of his options contracts and bought shares or sold part of his options and converted the rest into shares.
GameStop shares closed down 1% at $28.70 on Friday. They have gained 67% since May 10, the last trading day before Gill resurfaced on social media after a three-year absence.
(Reporting by Suzanne McGee, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; editing by Ira Iosebashvili, Megan Davies and David Gregorio)
