Shares of GameStop jumped on Tuesday for the fifth straight day, as the meme stock rally that began earlier this year got more juice on news about the video game retailers ecommerce strategy and speculation that small investors will pour stimulus check funds into stock markets.
GameStop shares were up 23.5 to 239.80 in early trading, a day after the company entrusted leadership of its online sales efforts to board member and major shareholder Ryan Cohen, cofounder of online pet retailer Chewy Inc.
The resurgent rally lifted other stocks favored by retail investors on forums such as Reddits WallStreetBets. Market watchers have cited the U.S. Senates passage of a 1.9 trillion stimulus bill including 1,400 direct payments to Americans as one catalyst.
Once the aid bill is finalized and signed into law, the U.S. government should be able to start delivering 1,400 checks quickly, tax experts said.
Since January, GameStop shares have had several wild swings, one of the hottest meme stocks followed on social media.
Shares of AMC Entertainment another popular bet among retail investors, were recently up around 5, headphone maker Koss Corp climbed 1 and Blackberry Ltd rose by around 2.
Cohen, a major shareholder who has pushed Gametops move away from its brickandmortar 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.
The flurry of buying drove hedge funds that had bet against the…