GameStop Stock Prices Just Exploded Thanks To Reddit

[Ulquiorra]

GameStop stock prices have exploded thanks to popular social media platform Reddit's hottest stock market-related community, r/WallStreetBets, where users have enacted a get-rich-quick scheme - and it seems to be working. GameStop has been ailing for years now, so to see the company's stock prices shoot up so suddenly and sharply has stunned many who would have sooner expected it to see it fold.

GameStop has was hit super hard in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, the launch of several highly anticipated games and new console launches helped them but the gaming retailer was already just barely staying afloat. At the start of 2020, the stock was fluctuating around $20; by the year's end, the company's stock prices had dipped below that amount. Needless to say, GameStop stock wasn't really something people thought could stand to make anyone particularly rich.

After a notable but much smaller boom last week that brought the share prices from about $40 to $73 at its peak, GameStop shares soared today, according to CNBC and Bloomberg. Stock prices rested at about $60 a share when the market closed on Friday and have shot up to a peak of over $150 per share (a 125%+ gain) at the time of writing. Essentially, anyone who bought 10 shares at $20 at the start of the year and sold at the $150-or-so peak, they've easily made $1,500. There were much more bullish individuals, such as those on Reddit who bet everything they had on GameStop, hoping it would reach $1,000 per share. One Reddit user turned $53,566 into a mind-boggling $11 million. The stock is currently plummeting below $100 but there's faith that it will soar once again, especially after a smaller but similar dip happened last week. If they sell at the right time, they could be rich, but it will likely prove disastrous for many.

Given this entire stunt is based on people using GameStop's last legs to bleed the company dry, if someone holds their stocks too long, they're liable to lose a dangerous amount of money. GameStop stock is incredibly volatile and has fluctuated dramatically today, just mere hours after the market opened. The entire r/WallStreetBets subreddit is watching with close enthusiasm, as well a lot of other investors and others who are simply fascinated (or simply want to watch the world burn).

It is believed the stock will fall to about $20 once again when all is said and done, but it's unclear when the crash will happen. It likely won't take long simply because of how volatile the GameStop stock is. While not totally unheard of, it's quite remarkable how quickly a group of Reddit users were able to fuel enough speculation to cause massive gains in one of gaming's biggest retailers, even if it's only temporary.