Around 12:25 PM ET on Friday, June 7, Keith Gill, also known as 'Roaring Kitty' on Twitter and Google's YouTube, who is called the 'Leader of Retail Investors,' hosted a live stream on YouTube.

Before the live stream, GameStop (GME), which is claimed to be the only stock Gill holds, fell 32.05% to $31.63, and trading was suspended due to excessive decline. During the live stream, its stock continued to fall and was halted multiple times, and at the end of the 50-minute session, it fell over 40%.

If the decline continues until the close of trading, it will mark GameStop's largest single-day decline since February 4, 2021, when it fell by 42%, and will also be the fourth worst trading day in the company's history.

Another volatile retail stock, AMC Theatres, also saw a significant decline as shareholders rallied together, falling 14% by the end of the livestream and ultimately closing down 15.2%.

Notably, Gill appeared on the live stream wearing a headband, with multiple bandages on his face and arms, though he claimed he was pretending to be injured. The live stream was quite rambling, but upbeat, ending with Gill downing a glass of beer in one gulp.

The background of the live stream was the real-time trading chart of GameStop's stock price, and Gill continuously asked the audience if his computer had frozen due to multiple trading halts. Within the first five minutes of the live stream, there were more than 600,000 viewers online.

This was Gill's first video live stream in nearly four years, with fans wishing him a happy birthday on June 8 during the session.

He mentioned that GameStop was the only holding in his investment portfolio and that his 'aggressive investment style was probably not suitable for netizens.' The screenshots he shared included 5 million shares of common stock in GameStop and 120,000 call options.

He expressed full confidence in Ryan Cohen, the billionaire CEO of GameStop and the founder of pet e-commerce company Chewy, stating 'I believe in this person, it's based on my feeling.'

He did not explain why GameStop was a good value investment during his nearly three-hour live stream in August 2020, but reiterated that GameStop was in the 'second phase' of his investment logic, with the company downsizing and cutting costs to stabilize its traditional business:

'The focus now is on transformation, which is also a test of management's capabilities, and that's what people should pay attention to.'

Gill said he had no lawyers present during the live stream, but he acknowledged that he 'probably should have.' He claimed that he had no institutional investors behind him, nor did he collaborate with others or hedge funds. Previously, Andrew Left, founder of Citron Research, speculated that Gill might now have the support of large professional investors due to the size of his holdings.

In 2021, Gill testified before the US Congress as the 'Leader of Retail Investors' in the battle against institutions. He also faced several class action lawsuits, including one accusing him of pretending to be a novice trader despite being a licensed financial professional. After that, Gill disappeared from social media until his return in May this year, triggering another wave of surges in GameStop and other retail investor stocks.

During the live stream, Gill admitted he had not watched the entire movie 'Dumb Money', which was released this year, a US biographical comedy-drama film adapted from the 'Retail Crushes Hedge Funds' incident at GameStop during the pandemic in 2020. He also said the live stream did not have any predetermined themes, adding 'just wanted to see what people were up to.'

Prior to the live stream, GameStop unexpectedly released its first-quarter earnings four days ahead of schedule. The earnings report was originally scheduled to be released after hours next Tuesday.

The report showed no signs of improvement in the company's operations. Net sales for the quarter were $881.8 million, a year-on-year decrease of 29%, lower than Wall Street's expected range of $900 million to $1.09 billion. The quarterly loss of $32.3 million was narrower than the loss of $50.5 million in the same period last year.

The company also plans to issue an additional 75 million shares of stock, with a maximum fundraising of up to $3 billion, but did not provide a detailed financing schedule. In May, GameStop announced a stock offering of 45 million shares, raising more than $900 million at the time.

Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management, said that GameStop's actions could be seen as 'seizing the moment,' as another stock embraced by retail investors, AMC Theatres, won favorable reviews for using a surge in stock prices to clean up its balance sheet, so it's not surprising that GameStop is following suit. AMC previously raised $250 million in new stock at market prices after a surge in share prices last month.

In 2021, Gil's endorsement of Gamestop helped its stock price soar by 1600% but then plummeted. Since Gil made a new post on social media in early May this year, Gamestop has been up 60% with sharp fluctuations during the period. Its live broadcast hype caused a surge of nearly 50% in trading volume on Thursday. From the second quarter to now, the stock has doubled and risen nearly 125%. Even after a big drop on Friday, it still rose more than 20% this week.

According to analysts, from the Sunday when the E-trade account screenshot was released to Thursday, Gil's bet on Gamestop gained a book profit of 375 million US dollars. If the stock closes above $20 on June 21, he can exercise a call option to buy 12 million shares and increase his overall holdings to 17 million shares, making him the fourth largest shareholder of Gamestop. However, selling these options would cause a sharp drop in GME's stock price.

During his live broadcast today, Gil also warned Morgan Stanley's E-Trade not to delete his account. On Monday, news emerged that Morgan Stanley's global financial crimes division and external legal advisers had begun discussing whether to stop serving Gil, citing concerns that his actions could constitute potential market manipulation charges.

Editor/Emily