One of the key figures in the GameStop Corporation (NYSE:GME) short squeeze of 2021 is set to appear on “Benzinga Live” Thursday, sharing an update on his previous bearish take on the video game retailer.
What Happened: Activist investor, short seller, and Citron Research founder Andrew Leftpreviously appeared on “Benzinga Live” on Jan. 21, 2021 to share his bearish thesis on GameStop, which may have helped kickstart a rally in shares.
Left will be back on “Benzinga Live” on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET.
“After 30 years in the markets and countless interviews, it’s surreal to be questioned by the media to interpret memes from Roaring Kitty. This enigma is drawing more focus than even Buffett’s new confidential stock. In 2024, it appears we’re all just cogs in a wildly unpredictable system,” Left tweeted from the Citron Research account.
The appearance by Left comes as GameStop shares have soared on the week, led by the return of Roaring Kitty, aka Keith Gill, on social media platform X.
Roaring Kitty, who played a central role in the retail trade of GameStop in 2021, posted a meme on X on Sunday and has posted video clips from movies Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The rally appeared to lose steam Wednesday, with GameStop shares falling.
GMEdd.com co-proprietor Rod Alzmann will also appear on “Benzinga Live” Thursday. Alzmann previously covered GameStop in 2021 and was also interviewed by Benzinga during the 2021 short squeeze.
Why It’s Important: GameStop was the target of a battle between retail traders against hedge funds and short sellers in 2021. Left was among the investors betting against GameStop due to fears of declines for the struggling retailer.
“You might have loved the setup on GME when it was $14, because of the high short interest,” Left said at the time. “There’s a high short interest for a reason, because pretty much their business is on a decline.”
As Left’s interview was taking place, thousands of people flooded the chat with bullish takes on GameStop and the shares began trading higher. The stock went on to continue rising over the next couple of days.
The aftermath of the 2021 GameStop short squeeze led to major losses for many short sellers and hedge funds. While Citron Research lost money on the trade, Left also credited GameStop as one of his best trades ever, given the timing of his exit.
“The best trade I’ve ever made in my whole life was getting out. How crazy is that?” Left said in July 2023.
Left exited his position in GameStop at around $92 per share. Citron Research estimates that if he stayed in his GameStop short for two more days, he would have been completely wiped out.
Left went on to say that Citron Research would no longer publish short reports and instead focus on companies that could be multibaggers.
The Citron Research founder, who has exposed troubled stocks for years, also said in 2023 he should be rewarded for exposing bad companies instead of being targeted by federal agencies.
“For three months, while you were at your kid’s baseball game, I was investigating a fraud. While you were watching Netflix with your wife, I was up all night working,” he said.
Left has since published several short reports targeting companies like Etsy, Luminar and the cryptocurrency market.
