London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

GameStop shares surge 53%, other 'meme stocks' rally on stimulus hopes

GameStop shares surge 53%, other 'meme stocks' rally on stimulus hopes

Shares of GameStop jumped more than 40% on Monday and other so-called meme stocks rallied, lifted by news from the video game retailer and expectations that investors may plow funds from coming stimulus checks into the equity market.
GameStop shares last traded up 41.2% at $194.50, their highest closing level since Feb. 1, after the company tapped shareholder and Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen to spearhead a new committee to help the video game retail chain’s transition to e-commerce. The stock was up as much as 53% at the session high.

Other stocks favored by retail investors on forums such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets also rallied. Some market watchers cited the U.S. Senate’s passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill including $1,400 direct payments to Americans.

“Maybe there’s a thought that if people are going to get a lot of money in their stimulus checks, that some of it’s going into the stock market,” said Christopher Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna Financial Group. “Some of it might go into those same names that we saw in late January, those message board Reddit-type stocks.”

Retail investors surveyed by Deutsche Bank last month said they would put more than a third of their stimulus checks into the stock market, which could represent inflows of around $170 billion, the bank said in a research note.

Retail buying of stocks and options has been among the factors driving markets higher over the past year, analysts said. Some 53% of respondents in the Deutsche Bank survey said they invested some funds from past stimulus checks in the stock market.

Other stocks popular on Reddit also soared, with AMC Entertainment up 15.4%, headphone maker Koss Corp climbing 27.5% and Rocket Companies up 3.0%.

The U.S. government should be able to start delivering $1,400 checks almost immediately once the aid bill is finalized and President Joe Biden signs it, tax experts say.

GameStop’s latest rally followed several wild swings in the share price from January. GameStop has become one of the hottest and most visible “meme stocks” followed on social media sites.

Cohen, a major shareholder who has pushed Gametop’s move away from its brick-and-mortar model, joined the board in January shortly before a social media frenzy drove a meteoric rise in which GameStop shares surged more than 1,600%.

Hedge funds that had bet against the stock were forced to unwind their short positions, a situation known as a “short squeeze.” GameStop pared most of those gains the following month.

Some analysts believe another short squeeze may be adding fuel to the stock’s recent gains. Short interest in GameStop was valued at $1.9 billion, or 25.38% of the stock’s float on Monday, compared to 32.56% about a week ago, according to Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners.

Over the past week, short bets worth $538 million were covered, Dusaniwsky said.

“Shorts will continue to be squeezed out of their positions as GME’s stock price continues to trend upwards,” Dusaniwsky said in an email.

Recently, Cohen posted a cryptic tweet of an ice-cream cone, which some analysts viewed as a possible trigger for GameStop’s most recent rally.

Cohen’s RC Ventures activist firm reached a settlement with GameStop in January, giving Cohen seats on the company’s board.

GameStop said its Strategic Planning and Capital committee will help drive the latest e-commerce push. Along with Cohen, the committee will include Alan Attal, a Chewy alumni who joined the board as part of the RC Ventures settlement, and another board member Kurt Wolf.

GameStop’s sales through brick-and-mortar stores are under increasing pressure, as more customers gravitate toward digital downloads of console games.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×