An illustration of the Chewy logo appears on a smartphone and computer screen.
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Shares of Chewy rose significantly on Thursday after Roaring Kitty, one of the biggest meme stocks, posted an image on social media platform X that resembled the online pet food retailer’s logo, but the gains were quickly erased later in the session.
Roaring Kitty, whose legal name is Keith Gill, has been stirring up speculation in names like GameStop by posting cryptic images and memes online. An image of the cartoon dog appeared on X’s website Thursday afternoon, briefly sending Chewy shares up as much as 34% to $39.10.
The stock later fell into negative territory again in Thursday’s session, down 0.5%.
There’s also a strong correlation between meme stocks GameStop and Chewy. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen was the founder and CEO of Chewy, and was instrumental in PetSmart’s acquisition of Chewy in 2017 and its subsequent IPO in 2019.
Cohen joined GameStop’s board of directors along with two other Chewy executives in January 2021, helping in part fuel GameStop’s initial rally. He later took over as GameStop’s CEO in 2023, transforming the traditional video game retailer.
Shares of pet retailers like Chewy and Petco have seen huge gains during the pandemic as stuck-at-home consumers adopted cats and dogs in droves. With the adoptions came the purchase of necessary accessories like new beds and leashes for their furry family members.
But as the pandemic ends and people start going out again, adoption numbers have slowed and consumers have less need for discretionary pet items like toys and cages, which carry higher profit margins than pet food.
Over the past year or so, Chewy and Petco have seen consistently strong pet food sales, but revenues in higher-margin categories have declined.
Gill is a former marketer for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance. He came to prominence after successfully encouraging individual investors to buy GameStop stock and call options in 2021 to drive out short-selling hedge funds. The 2021 frenzy led to a series of congressional hearings involving Gill on brokerage practices and “Play” From retail trade.
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