GameStop Shares Pop Tuesday On A Tweet From Ryan Cohen, Here's Why

Activist investor Ryan Cohen is a person who can move the markets with a tweet. A tweet from Cohen on Monday night has investors speculating on what could be coming for GameStop Corporation GME, a company that counts Cohen as an investor and the chairman.

What Happened: On Monday, Oct. 17 at 11:30 p.m. ET Cohen tweeted a photo to his 352,000 followers. The image has over 13,000 likes and despite not having a caption is generating a buzz among investors.

The photo features Cohen standing next to legendary investor Carl Icahn. There is an office chair behind them and what appears to be a table, which could suggest the two held a meeting of sorts.

Shares of GameStop opened higher Tuesday on speculation that the photo could suggest Icahn is investing in the retail video game company.

A thread from GMEddd on Twitter highlighted the photo and some of Cohen's history.

“Icahn has previously stated he buys into a company when ‘no one wants it,’ something Cohen did when he began to accumulate $GME shares in April of 2019,” GMEdd tweeted.

The Twitter thread also references a potential connection between Icahn and Cohen.

“When Ryan Cohen purchased $BBBY in March 2022, he retained Harkins Kovler, the solicitor frequently used by Carl Icahn in his corporate battles.”

The thread was also quick to point out a tweet by Cohen that others were circulating on Twitter.

“Ryan Cohen by day, Warren Icahn by night,” Cohen tweeted on April 13.

Related Link: Is GameStop's Ryan Cohen Becoming The Millenial Generation's Warren Buffett? 

Why It’s Important: Icahn is well known by the investing community as an activist investor who looks for value stocks.

Cohen has been compared to investors like Warren Buffett and Icahn for using a value approach and also for activist investing.

Adding Icahn as an investor in GameStop could be a huge catalyst for the stock, as the share price has fallen over 30% in 2022 and 42% in the last year.

While Cohen was formerly well-loved by retail investors, he may have lost a bit of his edge with some questioning the timing of his purchases and sales of shares in Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY.

Cohen took a 9.8% stake in the struggling retailer and later boosted it to 11.8% including stock and options. After mentioning the stock on Twitter several times, Cohen later sold shares before the stock crashed, netting a profit of $68.1 million.

The timing of the sale upset many.

Cohen has been known to share cryptic tweets that often foreshadow feature events. While the picture and tweet could result in just a short-term pump for GameStop, it may ultimately lead to an announcement down the road.

GME Price Action: GameStop shares are up 4% to $27 on Tuesday.

Photo: Courtesy of Bill Jerome on Flickr