GameStop Corporation wrapped up its worst week on record as a stunning reversal of fortune wiped out $18 billion from the video-game retailer’s stock-market value.
The stock trimmed gains to 8.2% at 1:51 p.m. in New York after earlier spiking as much as 78% and triggering three volatility halts. GameStop’s $58 share price is $425 below a peak hit last Thursday as the company limps into the weekend alongside battered stocks that had soared on the back of retail trader demand and excitement across platforms like Reddit.
The stock fell 80% in the last five days, its worst weekly performance on record, to $63.77 in New York. The 19% gain on Friday after Robinhood Markets removed buying limits still left it far below last week’s high of $483.
GameStop’s market value slipped to $4.4 billion, a far cry from the $33.7 billion value it hit on January 28 when it briefly became the largest company in the Russell 2000 Index. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which also had limits removed on trading, edged lower in Friday’s session and remains down about 66% from its peak.
Robinhood announced that it would remove buying limits in an update on the trading platform’s support page a day after it increased limits on purchases of the two stocks. GameStop’s volatile session came as trading volume roared back through the first four hours of trading. With 65 million shares swapping hands, the rate of buying and selling was higher than what’s been seen over the past two weeks.
Short interest for GameStop fell just below 50% from a high of 140%, according to data from S3 Partners. The receding level of bets against the company and similar peers had been a key factor in the stocks’ roller-coaster moves over recent weeks but could signal a breather before the next bout of mayhem.
