GameStop’s stock rises in early deals, set for second best week

(Reuters) – Shares of GameStop Corp jumped 10.6% in early deals on Friday, as retail investors pushed up the stock in a renewed rally that could see it clock its second best week.

Options market activity in the stock, which has returned to the top of the lists in a social media driven retail trading frenzy, suggested investors were betting on higher prices or higher volatility, or both.

GameStop shares touched $120.09 in premarket trading. Its shares are set to triple this week, if gains hold. Further support could come from holders of options on the GameStop stock, as a big batch of those weekly contracts mature on Friday.

The stock is still some distance away from the $483 hit in January as battered hedge funds that had bet against the video game retailer were forced to cover short positions when individual investors using Robinhood and other trading apps pushed the stock higher.

Refinitiv data on options showed retail investors have been buying deep out-of-the-money call options, which are options with contract prices to buy or sell far from current prices.

Many of those options deals are set to expire on Feb. 26, and would mean handsome gains for those betting on a further rise in GameStop’s stock price.

Call options which would be profitable for holders if GameStop shares reach $200 and $800 this week have been particularly heavily traded, the data showed.

Meanwhile, GameStop’s Frankfurt listing shed 21.3% to trade at 98.19 euros, in a move that almost entirely saw its value converge with that of the U.S.-listed stock, which added nearly a fifth in value on Thursday.

(Reporting by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)