Kohl’s gets crowned as a meme stock

…and just when everyone thought the craze had come to a GameStop. Shares in department store chain Kohl's surged as much as 105% yesterday morning before trading was temporarily halted due to volatility (a Kohl-down cool-down), in a wild ride echoing the retail investor-driven rallies of recent years.

• The stock ended the day up ~38% to reach $14.34/share.

The squeeze is on

Kohl’s hasn't announced updated guidance or a flashy new investment, and like it tripped over a diamond watch, has fallen on hard times. Revenue has been dropping for years as consumers gravitate to online shopping, causing Wall Street to increasingly bet against the company—especially after the high-profile May firing of CEO Ashley Buchanan.

• Roughly 48% of Kohl’s public float is now sold short, Bloomberg reports.
• That’s below the ~140% seen by GameStop at the start of the initial r/wallstreetbets-powered meme-stock rally, but well above levels seen by companies like Apple and Tesla, which are at less than 3%.

In short: With that level of short interest and a name people recognize, r/wallstreetbets chatter suggests Kohl’s is ripe for a squeeze. When investors flock to a heavily shorted stock, those with short positions may buy more to cover their losses, which can drive the price higher.

Meme stocks are Roaring🐱 back: Shares of OpenDoor Technologies, an online home-buying platform, have also more than doubled in recent days.