GameStop extends 2-day surge to 278% as Reddit meme stocks find renewed life

• GameStop shares extended their 104% Wednesday rally by climbing another 85% on Thursday.
• The two-day stock surge of 278% comes alongside gains for other so-called meme stocks popular on Reddit.
• GameStop is back in focus after it announced the resignation of its CFO, Jim Bell.

GameStop surged as much as 85% on Thursday after the stock more than doubled the previous day. The two-day move of 278% has been part of a broader surge for so-called meme stocks popular on Reddit.

The stock rose to an intraday high of $170 per share at of 9:35 a.m. ET after closing 104% higher at $91.71 on Wednesday. Among other Reddit stocks, AMC Entertainment rose 21%, Express Inc climbed 22%, and Koss gained 90% at intraday highs.

GameStop's spike was spurred by a spike in final hour of regular market hours on Wednesday, after a session that saw trading in the stock halt multiple times due to volatility. The video-game retailer came back into focus after it announced the resignation of its chief financial officer, Jim Bell.

Sources told Insider Bell didn't actually resign voluntarily, but was forced out by the board as part of a push by activist investor Ryan Cohen. The board aims to make way for an executive that is more in line with Cohen's strategic vision.

Cohen's addition to the board in early January, along with his boosted investment stake in the company, fueled the first flurry of moves in GameStop.

After GameStop's stock doubled, Reddit's website suffered an hour-long outage in after hours-trading. It is unclear whether the two instances were related, but the Wall Street Bets subreddit page is known to be a popular forum for day traders that recently triggered a rally in multiple shorted stocks.

The clearinghouse that forced Robinhood to restrict trading in volatile stocks because of higher margin requirements published a whitepaper on Wednesday that laid grounds for accelerating the stock-settlement process. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation proposed shortening the settlement cycle for US equities to one day from two, prompting some renewed interest from the retail crowd on Reddit.

Read more: GOLDMAN SACHS: These 40 heavily shorted stocks could be the next GameStop if retail traders target them - and the group has already nearly doubled over the past 3 months