Kohl's experienced a significant surge in share price, rising over 50% as retail investors coordinated on social media platforms like Reddit. The stock opened at $10.52 and peaked near $20 before settling at a 38% increase at $14.34. This rally was not driven by financial improvements but by social media excitement, resulting in momentum that created a short squeeze. Despite this surge, Kohl's fundamentals remain weak, indicated by falling same-store sales and declining net revenue, prompting regulatory and analyst scrutiny.
"It's all social media chatter," Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers told Bloomberg. "Remember that a highlight of the meme stock era was a dose of nostalgia for companies like GameStop and AMC. Social media chatter can become self-fulfilling."
Users spotlighted the company's extraordinarily high short interest- roughly 49% of its float, or 53 million shares - making it a prime target for a so-called short squeeze.
The dramatic rally in Kohl's stock was not triggered by any turnaround in the retailer's financials or corporate news. Instead, the momentum was fueled by a wave of social-media excitement, particularly on Reddit's WallStreetBets and similar forums.
Even after the initial surge abated, Kohl's shares held on to double-digit gains, finishing the day far above Monday's close and drawing attention from both regulators and analysts.
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