Traders work at a booth where GameStop is traded on the Modern York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Modern York, U.S., June 12, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
GameStop The annual shareholder meeting was disrupted Thursday by computer problems as servers crashed amid overwhelming demand for the broadcast, a customer service representative from the company hosting the broadcast told CNBC.
The meeting, which was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. EST, was held on ComputerShare, but when people tried to access the event, many people received error messages saying the page could not be loaded, according to posts on the site social media X and CNBC’s own attempts. to access the event.
According to a YouTube broadcast from an unaffiliated user who purported to play the channel, the annual meeting was called at 11:48 a.m. EST and “immediately adjourned … due to technical issues that prevented shareholder access to the meeting.” According to the source, GameStop will provide an update “as soon as possible” when the event is postponed.
GameStop could not immediately be reached for comment.
When reached by phone, a ComputerShare customer service representative told CNBC that they are seeing a “massive number” of problems from people trying to access the meeting.
The representative stated that ComputerShare’s servers were apparently unable to handle the traffic generated by the meeting and were not accustomed to the number of accounts. They added that ComputerShare’s technical team is working to resolve the issue and advised affected parties to try logging in “every 5-10 minutes.”
The debacle comes amid a fresh meme craze that has intensified since Keith Gill – known online as Roaring Kitty – resumed posting on his social media accounts after being inactive for more than three years. Gill rose to prominence in the online trading world for his massive stock bets, causing a frenzy among retail traders.
On Thursday, GameStop surged 14.4% in another volatile session.
GameStop announced Tuesday that it raised more than $2 billion in recent stock sales on the market as the video game company benefited from a revitalized meme rally. GameStop has said it intends to operate the money for general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions and investments.
Traders are closely monitoring Roaring Kitty’s position because its dynamic selling could cause the stock price to decline.
Behind schedule Wednesday afternoon during trading, the sell-off in GameStop shares suddenly intensified as trading volume increased in call options held by Roaring Kitty. Call options give the buyer the right to buy shares at a specific price on a specific date. They enhance their value if the shares rise above the so-called strike prices.
GameStop calls with a $20 strike price and a June 21 expiration date included as many as 93,266 contracts on Wednesday, more than nine times its 30-day average volume of 10,233 contracts.
The price of these contracts fell by more than 40% during the session, and the shares fell by 16.5%.
Roaring Kitty had 120,000 contracts for these connections, according to a screenshot he shared on Monday evening.
It’s unclear whether Roaring Kitty was actually behind the immense volume, but options traders said he may have been involved given he is such a immense holder of these contracts.
Open interest in these calls means the total number of outstanding contracts on the asset has dropped to 111,818 contracts as of Thursday morning, already below Roaring Kitty’s original 120,000.
More than 47,000 such contracts changed hands on Thursday.
