Shares of GameStop closed at $265 following turbulent trading that saw them rise by as much as 41% to a peak of $348.50, a move some analysts said was accelerated by bearish investors unwinding bets against the stock.
Traders exchanged almost $20 billion worth of GameStop shares, making it the Wall Street session's second most traded company after Tesla and ahead of Apple.also enjoyed outsized gains. Headphone maker Koss Corporation soared more than 100% at one point and cinema operator AMC Entertainment jumped nearly 19% before erasing gains.
"You just have wild speculation.... They're guessing," said Phil Blancato, chief executive officer of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management in New York."I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole right now."