Reddit Decided to ‘Save Wendy’s’ and Its Stock Jumped 42% in ‘Abnormal Retail Buying’

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Wendy’s became the internet’s latest meme stock on Wednesday, after retail traders on Reddit decided the struggling burger chain needed rescuing. A WallStreetBets post titled “We need to save Wendy’s” went viral, pushing the stock up as much as 42% and briefly triggering a trading halt on the New York Stock Exchange for volatility, according to CNBC. The stock closed up 25.7% at $7.86 a share.

We’ve seen this movie before. The sudden surge has clear echoes of GameStop, where retail traders on Reddit piled into a heavily shorted stock in 2021, sending it from under $20 to nearly $500 in a matter of days before it came crashing back down. Wendy’s stock has lost about 36% over the past year, and roughly 23% of its float is currently sold short.

Whether the momentum lasts is another question. As Vanda put it, the surge was driven by “abnormal retail buying.” But Wendy’s is hoping for a turnaround after appointing Bob Wright, former head of Potbelly, as its new CEO.