GameStop (GME) shares are hovering around the $24.50 mark on Thursday, down less than 1% on the day amid a broader market decline for the stock, which has lost about 8% of its value in the last week.
The recent decline in the price of GME coincides with a notable absence of a key figure in the “meme stock” frenzy of 2021: Keith Gill, better known online as Roaring kitten and DeepFuckingValue.
Gill, whose passionate defense of GME on social media fueled a historic short squeeze, has been unusually quiet lately after helping drive the price higher in recent weeks. Last week, Gill revealed that he had done so increased its position in GME at about 9 million shares, or a value of about $223 million at today’s price.
There have been no disclosures about his holdings in the past week and his usually active Twitter account has seen little activity. This silence has contributed to uncertainty among retail investors who closely follow her moves and feelings about GameStop.
The decline in GameStop’s stock price can also be attributed to the lack of substantive updates from the company itself.
Earlier this week, GameStop’s highly anticipated annual shareholder meeting failed to provide new strategic information. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen reiterated plans to cut costs and boost profits, but offered few details on future growth strategies.
The meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, did not allow shareholders to ask questions, causing further dissatisfaction and speculation among investors.
“Revenue without earnings and future cash flow prospects have no value to shareholders,” Cohen said at the meeting.
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— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty) June 17, 2024
He stressed the importance of a strong balance sheet, especially in times of economic uncertainty, but provided no concrete plans to address the company’s current challenges. As of May 4, GameStop had about $1 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet.
GameStop’s struggle to transition from a traditional brick-and-mortar video game retailer to a more digitally focused company remains a significant challenge. The company is counting on Cohen to lead this transformation, but tangible results are yet to be seen.
The recent shareholder meeting, initially interrupted by technical problems and delayed from last week, left investors with more questions than answers. The stock has suffered a significant decline, closing down 12.1% the day of the meeting.
Despite a slight recovery, GameStop shares are still significantly down from their highs earlier in the year, when GME hit a price of nearly $65 on data. Google Finance.
By Andrew Hayward
