GameStop soars 23% as short-squeeze rally charges into 2nd day

GameStop soars 23% as short-squeeze rally charges into 2nd day

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GameStop soared as much as 22.8% on Thursday as more short-sellers closed positions and ran for the exit.The company's Monday announcement that it would add activist members to its board kicked off a rally that's left shareholders cheering and squeezed shorts out of their bearish bets.The scale to which short-sellers were targeting GameStop likely exacerbated the squeeze. Short interest in GameStop shares reached 135% on January 5, according to S3 Partners data.The leap comes after the video-game retailer scored a 57.4% gain on Wednesday that pushed shares to their highest level since August 2016.Watch GameStop trade live here.

GameStop lurched as much as 22.8% higher on Thursday as a record single-day gain rankled more short-sellers.

The climb marks a fourth straight day of gains for the gaming retailer after unveiling an update to its board of directors on Monday. GameStop agreed with activist investor RC Ventures to add three new members to its board, including Chewy founder Ryan Cohen.

Bullish investors were largely pleased. Shares leaped 12.7% on Monday and posted mild gains on Tuesday. Yet it wasn't until Wednesday that investors betting against GameStop closed their positions and fueled more extraordinary gains. The shift resembled a short squeeze, which