Chewy jumps 20% as filing shows 'Roaring Kitty' takes stake
FILE PHOTO: Logos for Chewy Inc. are displayed on the trading floor on the morning of the company's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Shares of Chewy rose 20% on Monday after a filing showed Keith Gill, the stock influencer known as "Roaring Kitty", had picked up a 6.6% stake in the pet products retailer.
The filing comes just days after the investor, known for triggering the meme-stock rally of 2021, posted an uncaptioned picture of a puppy on social media platform X.
Chewy's shares had leapt to a near one-year high on the Thursday post, before giving up those gains.
The filing, which lists Keith Gill as the reporting person, included a section "Check the appropriate box to designate whether you are a cat" under which the descriptor "I am not a cat" was checked.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Chewy and Gill were not immediately available for comment.
Gill is known to disclose his trading positions on platforms such as YouTube and Reddit, where he is known as "DeepFuckingValue", to the many retail traders who follow his cues.
Chewy rival Petco Health and Wellness Company also rose nearly 7% before the bell.
Shares of Chewy, which sells pet food as well as medicine online, have risen 15% so far in 2024 but fell in the three preceding years as spending on pets slowed after a post-pandemic boom.
Analysts said last week Gill's interest in Chewy could also be influenced by the fact that the pet retailer was founded by GameStop's CEO Ryan Cohen.
GameStop had gained nearly 700% in the 2021 meme-stock rally, fueled by Gill's posts.
Gill returned to Reddit on June 2 after a years-long hiatus, with a screenshot disclosing a sizeable GameStop stock and options position.
Shares of the video game retailer have swung wildly since Gill reappeared. They have gained 40% for the year so far.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Devika Syamnath and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)