GameStop, the most hated stock on Wall Street, rose again on Friday as the massive short press continued to fuel its explosive rally.
The video game stock rose 69.4% on Friday to a high of $ 72.88, bringing the profit to more than 100% this week alone. Trading in the stock was briefly halted due to the high volatility. The stock last traded about 35% to about $ 58.
According to FactSet, GameStop calls more than 138% of the floating stocks that are short, the shortest name in the US stock market.
The stock initially jumped higher last week after the company announced that Chewy, co-founder and former CEO Ryan Cohen, will step into its board. The news caused a huge short coverage where hedge funds and other players had to rush in to cover their bets against the stock.
Meanwhile, retail investors have also piled up, fueling the rise further. As of early afternoon trading, more than 92 million shares of GameStop have changed hands, quadrupling its 23-day trading volume from 23.8 million.
Short seller Citron Research commented on the stock, saying buyers at these elevated levels are ‘the suckers at this poker game’, according to a Tuesday tweet. According to Citron, GameStop will drop ‘fast’ to $ 20 per share.
Citron said on Friday it would no longer comment on GameStop due to attacks by the ‘angry mob’ that owns the stock.
The share rose by more than 250% in 2021 after a 209% pull last year.
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