FILE - The logo for Chewy appears above trading posts on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, June 14, 2019. Shares for Chewy jumped in premarket trading early Monday, July 1, 2024, after a regulatory filing disclosed that Roaring Kitty, an investor at the center of the meme stock craze, had taken a 6.6% stake in the online pet retailer.
Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, bought more than 9 million shares of Chewy last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows. Based on Friday’s $29.05 closing price, that amounts to a value of over $261 million — making him the company’s third-largest shareholder. Shares jumped more than 20% before the opening bell. After rising 5% when markets opened, shares of Chewy Inc. slipped 3%.
Chewy, based in Florida, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.a picture of a dog on social media platform X and sending Chewy’s stock up more than 30% in intraday trading.. At the time, the video game retailer was struggling to survive — and big Wall Street hedge funds and major investors were betting against it, or shorting its stock.
Gill said he had faith in the ability of GameStop’s Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen to modernize the company after what he did at Chewy. Cohen co-founded Chewy back in 2011. He stepped down from his role of Chewy’s CEO in 2018.