Pranav Kashyap
(Reuters) – Andrew Left, founder of Citron Research, is again betting against retail darling GameStop (NYSE:), which is back in the spotlight after superbull “Roaring Kitty” Keith Gill resurfaced after a three-year hiatus. break.
Citron was forced to unwind its short position in GameStop at a loss in 2021 after retail traders rallied against the sharply shorted stock on online forums to drive a price rally, costing bearish investors billions of dollars.
“It’s nice to be on fire again. The dynamics of the market have changed, and I’m not as exposed as I used to be,” Left told Reuters about his current role at GameStop.
“The first time, three and a half years ago, (GameStop) became a cultural phenomenon, and it’s already over. The company’s financial performance is deteriorating and it is in good bear position.”
Left didn’t disclose the size of his position in GameStop, but said it was “significantly lower” than last time. Bloomberg News on Monday reported Left’s latest short position on the video game retailer.
GameStop did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
After being hit by the GameStop surge in 2021, Left, who spent two decades building his brand as one of the world’s best-known short sellers, said he would stop publicly describing companies’ shortcomings.
Since then, Citron has published reports criticizing the companies and explaining why their shares are worth buying.
“I was still shorting stocks, I just wasn’t as vocal,” Left said.
“Short selling is a dying business. “It used to be that you could find information on the Internet that perhaps no one else had, but now retail investors are the good guys.”
Short sellers borrow shares and sell them on the market in hopes of buying them back at a lower price and keeping the difference.
GameStop shares fell 5.9% on Tuesday, a day after surging as Gill, a key figure in the 2021 meme stock frenzy, bet on the company in a Reddit post.