Shares of retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) jumped 27% on Tuesday (August 24) as the meme stock rally that had grown quiet in recent months was reignited.
The brick-and-mortar video game retailer surged as much as 36.5% to $225 U.S. per share in heavy trading. More than 14 million shares changed hands, seven times more than GameStop’s 30-day average.
Other meme stocks also rose. Shares of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped 20.3%. Clover Health (NASDAQ:CLOV) climbed nearly 10%. Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), which has also earned meme stock status, advanced 9% -- all on no apparent news.
Outside of the meme stocks, markets were fairly quiet with most investors eagerly awaiting a key Federal Reserve summit later this week. The S&P 500 index closed Tuesday’s session up a slight 0.2%.
The short interest in meme stocks remains elevated. About 28% of AMC’s float shares are sold short, compared with an average of 5% short interest in a typical U.S. stock, according to S3 Partners.
For GameStop, the short interest has declined drastically, to about 10% from more than 100% in January at the height of the meme stock rally.
