Why is the meme stock mania back?

After the collapse of GameStop in January it seemed like the internet meme-driven stock market frenzy was over. But it’s now back with a vengeance. Can anyone explain why? Ben Chu investigates

The price of the US cinema chain AMC doubled on Wednesday after it offered free popcorn to its small investors (Reuters)

Earlier this year the US video game retailer GameStop became the subject of a spectacular stock market frenzy.

The shares in the ailing firm, which still mostly sells games through a network of bricks-and-mortar stores, exploded in value, from just $80m (£57.7m) in April 2020 to a peak of $24bn in January 2021.

There was no compelling real world business-related reason for the soaring valuation. Rather the stock was being pumped up by a community of non-professional traders, egging each other on online chat forums with amusing memes to push the share price ever higher.