A GameStop store is pictured in New York on January 29, 2021.
Carlo AllegriI | Reuters
GameStop’s shares rose more than 100% on Wednesday as investors flocked to the brick and mortar retailer during a C-suite restructuring.
The stocks stopped in less than 30 minutes on the trading day and the stock ended the day up 103.9%. GameStop’s shares rose 30% after close of trading on Wednesday.
GameStop announced Tuesday that its Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell will step down on March 26th.
“Mr. Bell’s resignation was not due to a disagreement with the company over its business, policy or practice, including its accounting policies and practices,” the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sources familiar with the matter told Business Insider that Bell was leaving, not voluntarily, but by Ryan Cohen, co-founder of Chewy, who invested in GameStop last year to help the company accelerate its online push.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday night that the GameStop board had pushed Bell out to speed up the turnaround, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Cohen’s appointment to GameStop’s board of directors helped propel the sharply shortened stock higher in January, leading to the epic short squeeze in GameStop that sparked the retail craze and eventually congressional attention.
“We recognize that leadership changes often follow activist settlements and that Mr. Bell’s exit was mutual rather than immediate and does not suggest any disagreement with the company / board of directors,” Jefferies’ equity analyst Stephanie Wissink told clients. “We believe Mr. Bell deserves credit for a number of measures that protected GME equity in the late stages of the latest hardware cycle when sales fell sharply.”
Jefferies added that compared to its retail background, GameStop will likely look for a technology replacement for CFO as GameStop is focused on growing e-commerce.
“Don’t hate me: this is one of the most amazing lightning bolts I’ve ever seen. I’m talking about massive buying all at once! WOW, any name. VLAD !!!!!! You spear the short sellers again!” Tweeted Jim Cramer from CNBC on Wednesday.
A handful of other Reddit trades rose after business hours on Wednesday. AMC shares fell 18% and Koss fell 15%.
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