‘Roaring Kitty’ trader boosts Chewy’s share price with large stake in meme stock journey

The stock price of online pet retailer Chewy experienced volatility on Monday after popular investor Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” disclosed he had bought a significant stake in the company. Gill’s announcement caused Chewy shares to initially jump 11% before declining by 3% early Monday. Gill had hinted at the Chewy investment with a simple dog emoji post on X last week, which led to a rally in Chewy shares and other pet trade stocks. An SEC filing revealed Gill had purchased shares worth approximately $245 million, representing 6.6% of the entire company at Friday’s closing price. Gill, known for his involvement in the “meme stock” movement, is facing a class-action lawsuit in Brooklyn alleging his recent trades in GameStop amounted to a “pump and dump” scheme. GameStop shares, which saw a spike after Gill’s posts, have since declined by about 50%, causing scrutiny and investigations. It is noted that GameStop is now led by Ryan Cohen, a co-founder of Chewy, who also contributed to the meme-stock wave by investing in GameStop in 2020. The Massachusetts secretary of state is investigating Gill’s GameStop trades, and Cohen’s current relationship with Gill is unclear. Gill, Cohen, and their representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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