Topline
GameStop shares skyrocketed as much as 20% Wednesday after Chairman Ryan Cohen, the cofounder of online pets-supplies store Chewy, disclosed he invested another $10 million in the brick-and-mortar game-seller on Tuesday—pushing shares of the so-called meme stock to their highest levels this year.
GameStop shares skyrocketed more than 30% Tuesday, and surged another 15% after the billionaire’s … [+]
Key Facts
GameStop shares surged 20% Wednesday to $147.40 by 12 p.m. ET, adding to a nearly 31% surge on Tuesday.
The gains piled on after Cohen disclosed in a filing his investment firm RC Ventures purchased 100,000 GameStop shares on Tuesday for a combined $10.2 million, at prices ranging from $96.81 to $108.82.
“I put my money where my mouth is,” the 36-year-old tweeted shortly after the filing was released; as of Wednesday, his GameStop stake is worth more than $1.1 billion.
In a separate filing, the entrepreneur disclosed his firm owns a total 9.1 million shares purchased for about $86.1 million, excluding brokerage commissions.
Buoyed by the broader market, this week’s stock surge helped GameStop recover losses after the firm posted a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $147.5 million last week, compared to a profit of $80.5 million in the period one year prior.
A representative for Cohen did not respond to Forbes‘ request for comment.
Key Background
Last January, Reddit traders famously declared GameStop their meme stock of choice as they bought up Wall Street’s most heavily shorted companies. The company was among the worst-hit brick-and-mortar retailers over the past decade as independent companies like Minecraft gobbled up market share, but its shares began to surge in 2020, when Cohen started buying up stock at about $6 and blasting management for “lack[ing]
Surprising Fact
After skyrocketing more than 800% last January, GameStop has continued to draw massive fanfare from retail investors, despite bouts of intense volatility. Shares are down about 59% since an all-time high set in June, but they’re up a staggering 3,000% over the past two years.
Further Reading
GameStop Stock Skyrockets Again After NFT And Crypto Market Plans Emerge (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/03/23/gamestop-stock-billionaire-ryan-cohen-buys-shares/