The GameStop surge is making headlines because it’s being driven by retail investors — individuals who buy and sell stocks for their own gains, as opposed to professional investors working on Wall Street — on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets (WSB), a community 2.9 million-strong that refers to members as “degenerates” and idolizes Elon Musk.
Why is GameStop stock going up?
Jan 27, 2021 · The GameStop surge is making headlines because it’s being driven by retail investors — individuals who buy and sell stocks for their own gains, as opposed to professional investors working on Wall...
How high did GameStop go?
Nov 01, 2021 · The stock has seen wild fluctuations over the past year, so it is not surprising that the departure was shrugged off by investors. GameStop …
Why did GameStop skyrocket?
Jan 26, 2021 · The r/WallStreetBets community, which has more than 2 million subscribers, has turned GameStop into a meme stock —it has value because a small number of people decided it would be fun (and...
When did the GameStop stock thing start?
Jan 28, 2021 · How did GameStop shares jump? Investors have been short selling the stock – borrowing shares, immediately selling them, then buying them back at a lower price before returning the shares – because...
Who owns GameStop stock?
Despite GameStop’s bleak outlook, last year a well-known investor named Ryan Cohen increased his holdings of GameStop stock to more than 10% of the company, with hopes of transforming the mainly physical retailer into more of an online player.
What hedge fund lost money on GameStop?
In fact, one hedge fund called Melvin Capital lost so much money on its GameStop short positions that it needed a capital infusion of nearly $3 billion to shore up its finances. And GameStop isn’t the only stock that has seen this kind of tug of war between retail investors and hedge funds lately. A few others include:
How much did GameStop lose in 2020?
The company had a net loss of $18.8 million, or 0.29 per share. As a result of results like that, GameStop stock had been drifting lower for years. It was around $56 a share in late 2013, but had fallen to under $4 by March of 2020. Of course, that was before the massive surge.
How many stores does GameStop have?
GameStop (NYSE: GME) is primarily a bricks-and-mortar video game retailer with more than 5,000 stores. But this business model is frowned upon by many in the investment community due to both long-term and short-term factors. Long-term, fewer and fewer gamers actually journey out to physical stores to purchase their games.
Is GameStop a dying company?
GameStop has suffer ed massive ly from these negative trends. And some have begun to consider it a dying business. In the third quarter of 2020 (the most recent reported), sales were about $1 billion, down 30% from the same quarter in 2019. The company had a net loss of $18.8 million, or 0.29 per share.
Did hedge funds bet against GameStop?
Several major hedge funds looked at GameStop’s books and decided that the company was doomed to fail eventually. So they bet against GameStop stock by shorting it. That means they borrowed the stock and sold it, hoping to buy it back later (and return it to the stock lender) after the stock price fell.
Why did AMC stock spike?
Earlier this week, AMC’s stock spiked after the company announced it would avoid bankruptcy with new financing. In normal times, the news wouldn’t have necessarily boosted the shares — the financing means AMC is going deeper into debt and will water down its existing shareholders. This time, it has been different.
What does Gamestonk mean?
Users had rejoiced Tuesday evening when Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted “GameStonk,” an acknowledgment of a meme that they use to attack the stock. Likewise, the Winkelvoss twins have been firing off pro-squeeze tweets and claiming “The inmates are running the asylum.”.
What happens when you buy stock?
When you buy stock in a company, you’re (typically) making a bet that something will happen that leads that company’s stock to grow in value: a popular new product, a big executive hire, a great quarterly report, and so on. But if you think a company is going to tank, you can “short” that firm—basically, you borrow a number ...
Is GameStop running out of batteries?
But overall, GameStop is running out of extra lives, its batteries are dying, and its parents are telling it to go to bed because it’s got school in the morning. Sorry, the video player failed to load. (Error Code: 100013) The seeming inevitability of GameStop’s demise made it an obvious target for short sellers.
A major investor boosted his stake in the struggling retailer
Tim writes about technology and consumer goods stocks for The Motley Fool. He's a value investor at heart, doing his best to avoid hyped-up nonsense. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @TMFBargainBin
What happened
Shares of video game retailer GameStop ( NYSE:GME) jumped on Monday after Scion Asset Management reported additional stock purchases in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investment firm, founded and run by Michael Burry, now has a 5.3% stake in the company. GameStop stock was up about 14.3% at 12:40 p.m. EDT today.
So what
Burry first revealed a significant stake in GameStop back in August, arguing that the balance sheet was in good shape and that the retailer's cash flow justifies a much higher share price. Burry also argued for a massive share buyback program, given the beaten-down stock price.
Now what
The pandemic could hasten the transition from physical game discs to digital downloads, as well as the deterioration of GameStop's used-games business. Used games are a cash cow for the company, but sales have been in decline since 2016. As more gamers opt for digital downloads, it's hard to imagine any kind of recovery.
When does GameStop stock close?
Dec. 31, 2019: GameStop stock (GME) closes at $6.08. March 30 , 2020: GameStop says it will close more than 320 stores in 2020. GME closes at $3.65. Aug. 31, 2020: Ryan Cohen, a cofounder of Chewy.com, buys 9% stake in GameStop. GME closes at $6.59.
What is Gamestop story?
It is essentially the opposite of traditional investing aimed at profiting from a stock's rise. The GameStop story starts with short sellers who lost confidence in the company's future as the pandemic challenged companies without strong digital strategies.