The meme stock rally triggered by the return of “Roaring Kitty” to social media has cost GameStop stock short-sellers more than $US2 billion in just two days, according to data firm S3 Partners.
Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3’s managing director of predictive analytics, wrote on X: “After being down $US862 million in mark-to-market losses yesterday, $GME [GameStop] shorts are down another $US1.36 billion in mark-to-market losses today.”
GameStop stock was up 21% Tuesday afternoon as trading was halted, after multiple pauses in trading on Monday, when the stock closed up 74%.
Short-selling is an investment strategy in which a trader borrows shares and sells them, with the intent of buying them back later at a lower price, returning the borrowed shares (plus interest) to the lender, and profiting off the difference.
Dusaniwsky added that GameStop’s short interest is $US1.92 billion, and that 63.2 million shares have been shorted.
“We are seeing continued squeeze-related short covering due to the rebirth of the meme trade,” he wrote.
Additionally, he wrote that AMC stock shorts are down $US244 million in midday losses after falling $US127 million on Monday.
AMC stock was trading more 37% higher Tuesday afternoon after it was also halted.
This article originally appeared on Quartz.
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