GameStop, AMC short sellers double down even with stock swings

It’s been a whirlwind week for GameStop and other meme stocks, including AMC, with big swings followed by heavy selling, absent concrete news. Instead, the activity has been fueled by the return of social media investor “Roaring Kitty,” also known as Keith Gill, who started posting on X after a three-year hiatus. 

The extreme volatility has cost short sellers – those betting the shares will fall – big time. GameStop shares are up over 126% this week, costing the shorts more than $1.8 billion this month alone, according to Ortex, which compiles short interest data. Losses kick in at $39.70 per share.

GAMESTOP FRENZY: WHO IS ROARING KITTY?

AMC shares have risen 88% this week, costing shorts more than $157 million, also according to Ortex. For AMC, losses kick in at $5.73 per share. This week the theater chain raised $250 million in a stock sale. 

Still, Ortex notes short positions based on the float, or number of shares available for trading, have ticked higher this week for both stocks, “signaling that short sellers have not closed any positions,” the firm stated. This suggests the likelihood of more downside versus upside. 

WHAT GAMESTOP INVESTORS AND TAYLOR SWIFT FANS HAVE IN COMMON

The head-scratching posts, some say, are nonsensical. The first post on Sunday was a cartoon drawing of two gamers – with one appearing to be leaning in, noted by a red arrow. 

Gill has continued posting this week, featuring clips from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which morphed into “Breaking Bad” and the poignant “no fighting” scene delivered by Cillian Murphy from “Peaky Blinders,” and “Tombstone” starring Kurt Russell. 

Many of the posts share a fighting theme or one preparing for something nefarious, such as the well-known scene from “The Town” in which Ben Affleck says to accomplice Jeremy Renner, “I need your help, but I can’t tell you what it is.”

“It’s actually kind of fascinating how much we don’t really know what’s going on in the markets,” said Afterhour founder and CEO Kevin Xu, described as an early Reddit investor, during a Wednesday appearance on FOX Business’ “The Big Money Show.” 

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