Shares jumped as much as 22% on Tuesday after the video game retailer announced it raised roughly $1 billion in its latest equity offering.
GameStop stock opened at around $23, down from close to $65 earlier this month during a quick meme rally.
This surge in stock price indicates investor enthusiasm for meme stocks, often driven by online buzz instead of company fundamentals. Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told Yahoo Finance, “In a normal market, this would cause some concern. You don’t sell stock into the market if you think it’s undervalued; you do it when you think it’s overvalued.”
GameStop is heavily shorted, having been shorted over 21% of the float.
GameStop sold 45 million shares, raising approximately $933 million, taking advantage of the unexpected meme rally in the middle of May, according to a Friday statement. The company intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions and investments.
The offering was first announced on May 17 along with the company’s preliminary financial results, causing shares to drop as much as 30% that day.
Some Wall Street analysts saw the offering as a wise move in light of the video game retailer’s financial challenges. GameStop’s recent earnings report revealed a steep decrease in quarterly sales compared to the previous year.
The sale of GameStop stock coincided with a similar move by AMC Entertainment, another meme stock. Earlier this month, AMC sold 72.5 million shares to raise $250 million. AMC shares rose more than 2% on Tuesday.
GameStop’s stock surge began on May 13, following the reappearance of “Roaring Kitty” online, a key player in the meme stock craze of 2021.