Reddit shares near record high after two-day rally in meme shares

Reddit shares rose 7% on Tuesday, climbing for a second day in a row, after retailers began a buying frenzy on the so-called memes.

Shares closed at $62.34, Reddit’s second-highest close since its March IPO. The rally began on Monday when “Roaring Kitten,” aka Keith Gill, the man who inspired the meme stock craze of 2021, resurfaced online, sending shares of GameStop and AMC towering.

Jill share a photo of X, which showed a video game player sitting forward in a chair. The image is often used by gamers to signal that they are taking the task seriously. As of Tuesday’s close, the post had been viewed more than 25 million times, according to X.

Reddit played a central role in the stock meme boom three years ago, thanks in large part to the WallStreetBets forum, where traders gather to share tips and in some cases band together to raise or lower stocks. GameStop mentions WallStreetBets bubble on Monday after Gill’s post.

The image and a series of other cryptic posts were enough to send GameStop and AMC up more than 100% over the past two trading sessions. Other stocks that were merged with the meme group rose, including BlackBerry, Cos and SunPower.

“Retail investors appear to be becoming bullish again and willing to take on more risk,” Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto, said in a note. “There is no underlying reason for this move as such – GME’s last earnings report was terrible.”

Citizens JMP Equity Research analyst Andrew Boone told CNBC on Monday that he doesn’t see a fundamental reason for Reddit’s rally. Still, he said an increase in user activity would help boost the company’s ad business.

“At the end of the day, more users means more impressions, which means more ads to sell,” Boone said.

Reddit, founded 19 years ago, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on March 21 at $34 a share and peaked at $65.11 on March 26. The stock then started to sell off, falling to $39.17 in April before getting a boost from Reddit’s better-than-expected earnings report earlier this month.

WATCHING: Reddit shares jump in gains