Shares of heavily shorted stocks jumped in Wednesday premarket trading as the recent meme stock revival spread to more names.
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme (NASDAQ:DNUT) surged 33%, following nearly a 27% gain on Tuesday. Recent data from multiple sources shows that between 15% and 30% of Krispy Kreme’s tradable shares are currently shorted.
Camera maker GoPro soared about 47% to $2.01, with short interest estimated between 8% and 10%. Plant-based meat producer Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) also jumped 10.4%, with short interest exceeding 35%.
This growing enthusiasm for heavily shorted stocks follows Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) volatile 37.6% surge on Tuesday, fueled by strong retail interest. Kohl’s was flat in Wednesday’s premarket but remained the third most discussed ticker on Stocktwits, a social media platform popular with retail investors.
Call option volume for Krispy Kreme exploded Tuesday, with over 100,000 contracts traded—71 times the average daily volume over the past four years, according to Bloomberg. GoPro saw its highest call volume since 2021, with over 56,000 contracts traded.
Online gift retailer 1-800-Flowers.Com rose 8.1% in premarket trading. Meanwhile, Opendoor Technologies (NASDAQ:OPEN), which has surged 440% this month, fell 11% on Wednesday.
Day traders on Reddit actively discussed potential new targets, with some promoting Krispy Kreme. Other heavily shorted stocks attracting buyers this week include Campbell’s Co., Aehr Test Systems, Polaris (NYSE:PII), and Wendy’s (NASDAQ:WEN).
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