GameStop's Stock Surges for Reasons I Don't Quite Understand

If you've read almost any article I've ever written, you know I have a particular love for Texas brands. From Bucc-ee's to James Avery, I'm a shameless cheerleader for anything Lone Star State. And that includes our modern-day Blockbuster, GameStop. (No shade intended; I miss Blockbuster.)

GameStop was born in Grapevine, Texas, and has expanded all the way to Europe, Canada and New Zealand. Fun fact: the first store was opened with financial backing from famous would-be president Ross Perot.

Today, GameStop is trending on Twitter because it's having a rather volatile day on the stock market. Shares are through the roof, at points hitting over 275 percent over for 2021.

I will be the first to say I don't quite understand what's going on here, but from what I've gleaned, it's due to a couple of factors.

The first, and perhaps most important, being mad Reddit love for the company. But that's deeply oversimplifying the Reddit equation here. The "short-squeeze" isn't just a joke, it's a bit of a pile-on from outsiders of the forum attempting to successfully gamble on what is seen as a short-term, trend phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the more savvy Redditors seem to have been in on the scheme from the get-go, if you would even call it a scheme. It appears that many Redditors truly believe GameStop is a winner.

Luckily, some news sources went a little deeper than the tired, usual "blame social media" track. There are real-world positives to GameStop, including the hiring of Chewy's CEO Ryan Cohen, who many see as having the chops to bring GameStop to the forefront of gaming sales.

Whatever the reason, here's hoping GameStop continues its success, as it has gainfully employed countless friends of mine. It would be real cool if you offered me more than 50 cents for my trade-ins, though.