Brendan McDermid/Reuters
- BlackBerry and Nokia gained as much as 7.4% and 7.2%, respectively, on Thursday as Reddit traders returned to their favorite stocks.
- The day traders who lifted meme stocks in January returned to the market Wednesday afternoon and boosted GameStop shares.
- The revival of strong retail-investor momentum also lifted AMC, Koss, and Express.
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BlackBerry and Nokia rallied on Thursday as the revival of Reddit-trader momentum lifted a handful of so-called meme stocks.
BlackBerry rose as much as 7.4%, while Nokia gained 7.2% at intraday highs. Both stocks quickly pared gains through the morning, with BlackBerry turning slightly negative soon after the open.
The nostalgic telecom names were among the several stocks to surge throughout January as day traders uniting in forums like r/wallstreetbets piled into highly shorted companies. The rally, best known for sending GameStop shares surging, died down in February as momentum shifted and retail investors rapidly exited their positions.
The final minutes of Wednesday’s trading session signaled the day-trader crowd is ready for round two. GameStop spiked 104% higher into the close as casual investors cheered the ouster of its chief financial officer, Jim Bell, as part of a company overhaul. The bullishness quickly spilled over into other Reddit favorites, including AMC, Koss, Nokia, and BlackBerry.
Posts on Wall Street Bets and other online forums suggest the upswing has some staying power. A post predicting “the Mother of All Short Squeezes” for GameStop stock sat at the top of Reddit’s “Popular” page at 8:30 a.m. ET, exposing the website’s users to the latest phase of the Reddit-trader saga. Hugely popular posts likely contributed to the January meme-stock rally, and a revival of such online activity could fuel similar inflows.
However, the day traders are no longer operating from the shadows. The GameStop surge drew scrutiny from Wall Street, regulators, and lawmakers, sparking new debate over protections for retail investors and their power in the market.
The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the phenomenon last week that included testimony from Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, and popular retail investor Keith Gill, among others. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to hold its own hearings in the near future.
BlackBerry closed at $11.32 on Wednesday, up about 70% year-to-date.
Nokia closed at $4.04, up 4% year-to-date.