Here’s Why GameStop Excitement Is Surging Again On Reddit - Forbes

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Topline

Enthusiasm for GameStop’s stock is once again surging among Redditors, with the topic dominating the site’s most popular posts over the past week, as a slew of supportive tweets from the company buoyed persisting belief the stock will soon skyrocket in the short squeeze many investors maintain didn’t come to fruition amid the infamous trading frenzy earlier this year.

Key Facts

Three of the 10 leading posts on the site since May 9 in terms of engagement were discussions about the stock in the subreddit “/Superstonk,” according to data compiled by NewsWhip, a social media tracking firm.

The video game retailer has benefited from some positive news over the past few weeks, including a high-profile management shakeup, the erasure of over $216 million in long-term corporate debt, a new lease on a 700,000 square-foot distribution warehouse and the doubling down of celebrity investor Keith Gill.

However, this week’s boost in interest began on May 10, when the stock reached its lowest value in nearly a month ($143), an event that drove thousands of Redditors online to praise the dip as a sign of an impending surge.

Excitement was then further exacerbated on Tuesday when GameStop weighed in on this year’s Reddit frenzy for the first time through its official Twitter account, posting a since-deleted photo of an astronaut looking at the moon (the moon represents the anticipated sky-rocketing value of a stock in the Reddit community) with the caption: “Been away for the past few months, what did I miss?”

The GameStop Twitter account the next day also posted another teaser, which it has since deleted, writing “moass,” a Reddit acronym for “Mother of all Short Squeezes” that appeared to inspire renewed optimism among many users.

The surge in online interest this week took attention away from “joke” cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which thanks to ample attention from Tesla billionaire Elon Musk had dominated Reddit the week prior, claiming the #1 and #2 posts with the most engagement.

Crucial Quote

“Got tired of **everyone** saying “*This feels different”* But ya’ll … I’m telling you. **This feels f-cking different,” one user wrote in the forum on May 12. “GameStop officially stopped tip-toeing around online.”

Key Background

Roughly four months after Reddit investors initially hijacked the publicly traded shares of GameStop, costing the investors shorting the stock billions of dollars, the popularity of these posts reveals a persisting confidence among many that GameStop will still see the exponential increase in value they’ve predicted. The share price has fluctuated since its high of $350 in January. However, the closest it has come—in March—was still $100 less. GameStop shares saw a roughly $20 boost on Thursday and have since leveled out just below $160.