Chewy has lost one of its most high-profile feline customers.
Keith Gill, better known as the meme-stock messiah Roaring Kitty, has sold off his stake in the online pet retailer, divesting 9 million shares of the company. Shares were down briefly on the news Wednesday morning, but quickly recovered.
Gill was, in large part, responsible for the frenzy surrounding GameStop shares in 2021—and still remains a powerful influencer on that company’s stock. As of June 24, he had amassed a 6.6% stake in Chewy, which was founded by GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen. He provided no explanation for his sale of the shares.
Gill’s buy-in to Chewy sparked a 10% jump in the stock, Despite his significant holding, though, the company’s stock never became a meme favorite and traded more on fundamentals. Year to date, share prices have increased just under 20%. That’s nowhere near the 42% GameStop shares have spiked in 2024.
After whipping up interest in GameStop during the days of the pandemic, Gill had been silent for almost three years on social media. In May, though, he posted an image, which re-mobilized the meme-stock army. He followed that up with a YouTube live stream and has continued to post on Twitter/X since then.
Gill, who was the focus of the film Dumb Money, has been an unabashed GameStop bull for years, posting on Twitter/X as Roaring Kitty and on Reddit under the name DeepF—ingValue. He was a fairly new investor to Chewy, however.
Traders began speculating he was distancing himself from Chewy early last month, when he posted a Toy Story 2 meme showing Andy, the human boy in the film, dropping a Woody doll that had a dog’s head. (Gill often speaks to followers in meme format, which leaves all sorts of room for interpretation.)
Tuesday’s SEC filing confirmed that.