Kohl’s has leapt into the spotlight as the newest meme stock phenomenon, experiencing a wild surge in its share price driven by retail investors coordinating on social media. Echoing the notorious GameStop and AMC frenzies of 2021, the department-store chain saw its shares more than double at the open on Tuesday, beginning at $10.52 and nearly doubling to about $20, before paring some gains to close up 38% at $14.34. The shares are up more than 50% over a five-day trading period.
The dramatic rally in Kohl’s stock was not triggered by any turnaround in the retailer’s financials or corporate news. Instead, the momentum was fueled by a wave of social media excitement, particularly on Reddit’s WallStreetBets and similar forums. “It’s all social media chatter,” Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers told Bloomberg. “Remember that a highlight of the meme stock era was a dose of nostalgia for companies like GameStop and AMC. Social media chatter can become self-fulfilling.”
