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GameStop (GME) shares jumped as much as 5% on Thursday as Keith “Roaring Kitty” Gill laid out his case for why he invested in the struggling video game retailer as part of his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. The stock was down over 11% at market close, though.
Gill, a retail investor known for his YouTube and Reddit personas — along with the CEOs of Robinhood, Citadel, Reddit, and Melvin Capital — all appeared as part of the committee’s investigation into the wild retail investor-driven short squeeze of GameStop’s stock price. That squeeze saw Robinhood restrict purchases of the stock, and Melvin, which shorted the stock, lose millions of dollars.
In his statements before the committee, Gill provided his investment thesis for betting on GameStop, saying that he believed the company’s stock was undervalued because the retailer would see benefits from the sales of Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles, and that it would be able to turn itself into a digital business.
“The market was underestimating the prospects of GameStop’s legacy business, and overestimating the prospect of bankruptcy,” Gill told the committee. “GameStop stores still provide real value to consumers, and reliable revenue for GameStop.”
See also: A guide to the GameStop hearing
Gill also pointed to the fact that GameStop has a solid jump on the growing gaming industry, and could refocus its efforts on the digital economy.
“I believe that GameStop has the potential to reinvent itself as the ultimate destination for gamers within the rapidly growing $200 billion gaming industry GameStop has a unique opportunity to pivot toward a technology driven business,” he said.“By embracing the digital economy GameStop may be able to find new revenue streams that vastly exceed the value of its business and hardly the only person who has advocated these points.”
GameStop was up to as much as $48.30 following Gill’s statements, but eventually finished the day in the red at $40.69.
When asked if he would purchase GameStop's stock at its current price, despite the decrease, Gill said he would and believes it is at an attractive price point.
in its most recent quarter, GameStop’s total sales were down more than 30% compared to the same time last year, despite the incredible interest in video games throughout the pandemic. Gamers are increasingly turning to downloadable games, as publishers including EA and Activision Blizzard pointed out in recent earnings reports.
Correction: Gill was asked if he would purchase GameStop's stock, not Reddit, as this piece stated.
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