GameStop (GME) shares briefly surged as much as 13% in after-hours trading on Monday after cryptic posts appeared on the social media account of Keith Gill, better known as Roaring Kitty. One of the posts featured Pepe the Frog wearing Roaring Kitty’s signature red bandanna, igniting immediate speculation across both stock and crypto communities. However, the posts were deleted less than an hour later, prompting a sharp reversal that erased all gains.
The volatility also spilled over to Chewy (CHWY), the pet retailer founded by GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, which rose up to 3% before falling back. The brief spike highlights the enduring power of meme stock influencers and their crossover appeal with meme coins. The Pepe image, in particular, focused attention on the PEPE token, while the broader GameStop narrative also awakened interest in the GME meme coin on Solana.
Adding fuel to the session, speculation about a GameStop–eBay (EBAY) merger intensified. Investors noticed that Cohen had removed GameStop from his social media bio and that eBay appeared on GameStop’s investor relations page. A regulatory filing outlined a proposed $56 billion acquisition of eBay, with Cohen projecting $2 billion in annual cost savings. GameStop also filed with the SEC to increase its authorized Class A stock from 1 billion to 2.5 billion, citing potential acquisitions and restructuring. Notably, Michael Burry—the “Big Short” investor—has exited his GameStop position, raising concerns about the company’s rising debt load.
The rapid rise and fall underscore the fragile, sentiment-driven nature of both meme stocks and associated meme coins. While the initial posts sparked a flurry of buying, the swift deletion left traders questioning the sustainability of the move. As GameStop and eBay shares remain volatile, the episode once again proves how quickly online narratives can reshape markets—and how meme coins like PEPE and GME remain tightly correlated with these events.
