$GameStop (GME.US)$ shares jumped more than 8% during regular market hours Thursday, adding to strong gains from earlier in the week. Here's a look at what might be fueling the rally.
What's Going On: Several so-called meme stocks traded higher earlier in the week on abnormally-high volume. Strength was likely due to increased retail investor interest.
Traders discussed high short interest names across social media platforms this week after seeing increased volatility in shares of $Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.US)$ due to impending bankruptcy concerns.
Volatility in Bed Bath appears to have sparked renewed retail investor interest in retail darlings $AMC Entertainment (AMC.US)$ and GameStop, which squeezed significantly higher in early 2021 as traders banded together on Reddit's r/wallstreetbets.
According to Benzinga Pro, 21.82% of GameStop's float is currently sold short. Based on elevated trading volumes, Benzinga estimates that it would take traders 12 days on average to cover their short positions.
GameStop's average session volume over a 100-day period is 4.98 million. Thursday's session volume came in just shy of 6 million.
GameStop was among the most mentioned stocks on r/wallstreetbets over the last 24 hours. It was among the top trending tickers on StockTwits this week, but it was not trending at the time of writing.
GME Price Action: GameStop has a 52-week high of $49.85 and a 52-week low of $15.41.