GameStop shares rise, social media traders claim victory

Individual investors that recently cluttered up at GameStop Corp. In a triumphant round this week after the struggling company’s shares have risen by more than 90% in the past two days, the stock is on its way to its best weekly performance ever.

For weeks, members of the popular WallStreetBets forum on Reddit have been promoting GameStop, encouraging others to grab stocks from the video game retailer and start placing bullish bets. Several posts on the forum noted that GameStop bets for short sellers were at high levels.

FactSet data shows that short interest, which indicates interest from investors betting that the share’s value will drop, is hovering around 138% of the stock’s free float this year. This makes it the second most short-selling company across the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, according to Dow Jones market data. This led some Reddit users to speculate that the stock could rise rapidly if short sellers suddenly have to cover their bets by repurchasing shares in the event the stock’s value suddenly rises.

This week, those expectations finally came to light after news of changes to the GameStop Board of Directors sent stocks higher.

On Monday, the company She made a deal To add the co-founder of Chewy Inc. Ryan Cohen and two former CEOs to GameStop Board of Directors.