A GameStop store in New York.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
GameStop and AMC Entertainment tumbled into overnight trading on Wednesday, returning some of the meteoric rally amid a shopping frenzy.
Shares of the physical video game retailer fell 18% on the extension of the trade, after an increase of 134% during regular business hours. The movie theater chain fell 33% in overnight trading after stocks rose 300% during extremely heavy trading.
The pair have been a popular target in the “Wallstreetbets” Reddit chat room, where a wave of home traders are focusing on heavily short-short stocks, pushing the stock higher and driving out short-selling hedge funds.
The forum, which has more than three million members, went private for a moment because the moderators said they were “unable to guarantee Reddit’s content policy.”
GameStop is up more than 400% this week alone, taking the January rise to an astonishing 1,700%. AMC has also skyrocketed by over 450% this week. On Wednesday, more than a billion shares changed name to AMC, the highest volume ever.
The increased speculative behavior of private investors is raising eyebrows on Wall Street and many have begun to worry that this could be a sign of a bubble with the stock market at record highs.
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