By Shashwat Chauhan
June 24 (Reuters) – Wendy’s highly shorted shares jumped to a more than seven-month high on Wednesday as retail traders flocked to the beaten-down stock of the fast-food chain, in the latest meme-like rally.
They were up 28.5% at $9 when trading restarted after multiple halts due to volatility. The shares rose as much as 41.9% to briefly hit their highest level since November 2025.
The ticker was the #1 trending stock on retail investor forum Stocktwits on Wednesday morning. It also had the second-highest mentions over the last 24 hours on Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets, according to sentiment aggregator SwaggyStocks.
In the first half-hour of trading on Wednesday, retail investors bought net $2.3 million worth of Wendy’s stock, building on purchases of $2.2 million earlier this week, according to Vanda Research data.
As of last close, the shares have fallen more than 78% from their June 2021 record highs, including a 24.9% drop this year, as it battles weak sales and pressure from an activist investor. It named a new CEO last month and a new finance chief on Tuesday.
Short interest in Wendy’s stock stood at 34% of its free float as of Wednesday, according to ORTEX. Bearish investors in the stock stare at $45 million in paper losses, if the gains hold.
ORTEX co-founder Peter Hillerberg said the stock was primed for a “short squeeze,” but was not in one yet as most short sellers were still near their entry price and not forced to cover their positions due to recent share weakness.
“That only changes if the rally keeps running,” he said.
Wednesday’s move mirrors the Reddit-driven meme stock frenzy of 2021, when amateur investors pushed up shares of video-game retailer GameStop and cinema chain AMC, burning hedge funds on the other side of the trade.
Most recently, car-rental company Avis Budget in April witnessed sharp share swings.
Trading activity was robust, with more than $790 million worth of Wendy’s shares changing hands as of 10:30 a.m. ET, around 11 times the one-year average of $68.4 million, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun Koyyur)
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