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GameStop’s shares rose 52.7% in premarket trading on Thursday as the heavily shortened stocks favored by Reddit traders await a revival.
Following the reported fall of CFO Jim Bell, investors piled into the brick and mortar video game retailer Wednesday, sending the stock up 103.9% before trading ceased.
The company announced Tuesday that Bell would step down on March 26th. Ryan Cohen – GameStop investor and co-founder of online pet food retailer Chewy – and the board of directors reportedly forced the move to expedite the online transition.
GameStop was at the center of a period of market chaos in late January when retailers, led by the multimillion dollar Reddit thread WallStreetBets, rocketed shares and put a number of hedge funds on Wall Street under pressure with bets on their stock Decline.
However, some analysts have pointed out that there is also an institutional participation in the rising share price.
AMC Entertainment, another stock hit by the retail frenzy, gained 18% in premarket trading Thursday after rising 18% in the previous session. The cinema chain was supported by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who announced that theaters in the city could open with limited capacity next month.
In the early hours of Thursday, headphone maker and Reddit favorite Koss Corp rose 57%.
