New York, Jan 5, 2026, 10:46 EST
- GameStop shares slipped about 1% in late-morning trade, hovering around $20.
- The stock re-entered social-media “most discussed” lists, despite no obvious company catalyst.
- Fresh valuation takes are colliding with doubts about whether GameStop’s turnaround can stick.
GameStop shares slipped about 1% to $20.42 in late-morning trading on Monday, as the meme stock returned to the top of Stocktwits’ trending list on speculation that influencer Keith Gill, known online as “Roaring Kitty,” might resurface. Stocktwits said it saw no clear catalyst for the renewed interest and its sentiment gauge for the ticker remained bearish. 1
The renewed chatter matters because GameStop remains a barometer for retail risk appetite at the start of the year, when many investors rebalance portfolios. Sudden bursts of attention can still move the stock sharply, especially when short sellers — investors betting a share price will fall — are active.
The debate is no longer just about memes. Simply Wall St said GameStop’s shares look pricier than specialty retail peers on a price-to-earnings basis — a multiple that compares a company’s share price to its profit — yet its discounted cash flow model, which estimates value from future cash generation, implied a far higher figure than Friday’s close. 2
Quiver Quantitative’s DiscussionTracker, which summarizes social-media posts about individual stocks, said online discussion in recent days has fixated on GameStop dipping below $21 in late December and on what strategic moves could revive growth in 2026. 3
Gill became a central figure in the 2021 GameStop trading frenzy after rallying retail investors online, turning the company into shorthand for social-media-driven volatility. Traders have repeatedly tried to map the stock’s next move onto that playbook, even as the business faces a different set of pressures.
Fundamentally, GameStop has struggled to gain ground as gamers shift toward digital downloads, streaming and subscription platforms. In its most recent quarterly update, the company posted third-quarter revenue of $821 million, missing analysts’ estimates, Reuters reported in December. 4
The company has also tried to broaden its appeal beyond physical game sales, including a move into bitcoin as a treasury asset. GameStop said in a filing in May 2025 that it had acquired 4,710 bitcoins, a strategy associated with corporate bitcoin holder Strategy. 5
The tug-of-war over GameStop’s valuation comes as investors more broadly look beyond highly valued corners of the market for opportunities in 2026. “The big difference going into 2026 is that we finally are seeing earnings growth come back into small caps,” said Oren Shiran, a portfolio manager at Lazard Asset Management. 6
Still, the downside case is straightforward: retail attention can fade as quickly as it appears, leaving the stock to trade on shrinking store economics and quarterly revenue trends. Bitcoin price swings add another variable that can cut both ways.
