GameStop Corp.
GameStop shares have rocketed up over the last two days, doubling between the end of Tuesday and late Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal first weighed in on the movement in the shares of the Grapevine-based video game retailer Thursday:
“For weeks, members of Reddit’s popular WallStreetBets forum have been touting GameStop, encouraging others to scoop up shares of the videogame retailer and begin making bullish bets,” The Journal said.
“Several posts on the forum had noted that short sellers’ bearish GameStop bets had been at elevated levels. Short interest, which indicates the interest of investors betting a stock will fall in value, has hovered around 138% of the stock’s free float this year, FactSet data show.
“This makes it the second-most shorted company across the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Inc., NDAQ -0.88% according to Dow Jones Market Data. That had some Reddit users predicting that the stock might rapidly rise if short sellers suddenly had to cover their bets by buying back shares should the stock suddenly rise in value.
“This week, that forecast finally appeared to take shape after news of changes to GameStop’s board sent shares climbing.”
The company’s shares, which traded at $19.94 late Tuesday, were trading at $39.17 Thursday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange.
GameStop announced Jan. 11 the appointment of three new directors who will stand for election on the company’s board at its annual meeting this year. GameStop appointed the directors - Alan Attal, Ryan Cohen and Jim Grube – in an agreement with investor RC Ventures LLC, the company said in a release.
“The three new directors collectively bring deep expertise in e-commerce, online marketing, finance and strategic planning to GameStop,” GameStop said. “These skillsets will support the Company’s continued focus on optimizing core operations and creating a powerful and exciting ecosystem for games and entertainment.”
Also Jan. 11, GameStop said its sales for the nine-week holiday period rose 4.8% in comparable stores, and 309% in e-commerce.
GameStop Corp.