A GameStop store in Manhattan
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GameStop stock’s wild ride continued on Thursday. After shaving off a third of its value on Wednesday, the stock roared back 53% to $183.75 on Thursday.
The stock’s (ticker: GME) percentage gain was its largest since Feb. 24, when it jumped 104%. Over 50.4 million shares traded on Thursday, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That’s 296% of the stock’s five-day average volume and 147% of its 30-day average volume. The closing gain ranks among the sixth-largest percentage increases for GameStop on record.
GameStop stock continues to be tethered to a mesh of technical factors, like short selling interest, options activity, and demand from retail investors on Reddit—as well as any Wall Street pros trading based on their comments. Data from short-selling analytics firm S3 Partners shows 8.6 million GameStop shares were recently sold short, about 15.7% of shares available for trading.
GameStop was also joined in gains by fellow meme stocks AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), up 21% to $10.94, and Koss (KOSS), up 57% to $25.80. GameStop stock at $183.75 is once again above the highest analyst price target listed by FactSet, which is Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink at $175. She raised her target by 1,066% after the earnings report. The next-highest target is Telsey Advisory Group’s Joseph Feldman, who cut his target to $30 from $33 on the news.
GameStop reported somewhat disappointing earnings results after the close on Tuesday, though that news was paired with a trio of new executive hires with e-commerce backgrounds. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it was evaluating whether to expand a previously announced $100 million at-the-market stock offering.
Separately in the filing, the company revealed it expects more directors than previously announced to retire from the board. The company said in January Lizabeth Dunn, Raul Fernandez, James Symancyk and Kathy Vrabeck planned to depart, but the new filing states they are expected to be joined by Reginald Fils-Aimé, Paul Evans, William Simon, and Carrie Teffner.
The board members not departing appear to be Chewy alums Ryan Cohen, Alan Attal, and Jim Grube, and well as CEO George Sherman and activist board member Kurt Wolf. GameStop said earlier this month that Cohen is chairing a committee aimed at transforming the retailer into more of a technology company. He is joined by Attal and Wolf on that team.
The company also appears to be selling more computer parts online, a business some analysts have called on the retailer to more aggressively target. Regardless, with its valuation still well above historical ranges, the bar is high to deliver what would be a historic turnaround.
