Memecoins GME, Roaring Kitty spike even as GameStop's stock tumbles back to earth

GME and Roaring Kitty, two memecoins themed on — though not connected to — the video game retailer GameStop, spiked within the past day as the firm's stock fell.

The GME token was valued at $0.007 as of 4:30 p.m. ET (20:30 UTC) on May 17, up around 10% within the past 24 hours, according to the crypto price tracker CoinGecko. Conversely, shares of GameStop's company fell about 20% to close Friday's session at $22.22, according to Yahoo Finance. GameStop stock, at one point, traded north of $64 earlier this week.

The memecoin has no connection to GameStop despite sharing the same ticker symbol.

In addition, Roaring Kitty spiked 42% within the past day to reach $0.008 as of 4:28 p.m. ET (20:38 UTC) on May 17, CoinGecko data shows.

Roaring Kitty is the social media account of Keith Gill, a former financial analyst and trader. Both the subreddit r/WallStreetBets and Gill featured heavily in the GameStop short squeeze of 2021, when the firm's shares surged over 1,000%.

Like the GME memecoin, the Roaring Kitty token has no connection with Keith Gill or his account.

After Keith Gill posted earlier this week for the first time in nearly three years, the memecoin taking on the name Roaring Kitty spiked 460% to hit $0.17 on May 14.

GameStop's Q1 results

GameStop posted key results in its first quarter earnings report, based on a preliminary basis for a period ending on May 4, the company noted Friday.

The firm said its preliminary net sales are estimated to be in a range between $872 million and $892 million for 2024's first quarter, nearly 29% lower than the $1.237 billion it brought in the previous fiscal year. Net losses are expected to range between $27 million and $37 million in the same period, compared to $50.5 million for the fiscal year prior.

GameStop said its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were also expected to be between $1.073 billion and $1.093 billion, down from last year's $1.310 billion.

Also Friday, GameStop filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 45 million shares of common stock to the investment bank Jefferies.

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