The retailer of video games GameStop was the target of a new speculative surge, Wednesday, February 24, on Wall Street, where its title has soared by more than 100%. This boom comes in the wake of the announcement of the resignation of its chief financial officer, Jim Bell, who will step down on March 26.
This decision is not motivated by “A disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the activities, regulations or practices of the company”, assured GameStop in a document sent to the American stock market policeman. However, according to the site Business Insider, who cites sources familiar with the matter, Mr. Bell would have been ” fired “ by shareholder-activist Ryan Cohen, who recently joined the company’s capital and board of directors.
The acquisition of a stake in GameStop by Mr. Cohen, co-founder of online pet products store Chewy, was one of the triggers for the company’s sharp upward movement on Wall Street in late January.
Several sitting suspensions
An army of amateur investors, notably exchanging their advice and opinions on a popular forum on the Reddit site, had decided to go massively to this chain of stores, raising its price on the stock market.
By acting in this way, these stock marketers had notably wished to prove wrong to large investment funds and the barons of Wall Street, who had on the contrary bet on a collapse of GameStop, in view of its mediocre financial results, its economic model visibly outdated and its gloomy growth prospects. A speculative frenzy had then won the entire market for several sessions and aroused strong reactions from regulators and US elected officials.
These officials are investigating whether certain financial players, including hedge funds and brokerage platforms, have attempted to manipulate the market to limit their losses. After a closing peak of over $ 347 on January 27, GameStop stock had fallen back to just over $ 40 last Friday. After being suspended several times at the end of the session due to too much volatility, it ended at 91.71 dollars on Wednesday.
