(Bloomberg) — The social-media mob scored another direct hit, this time with a little-known software company that Wall Street started betting against.
Support.com Inc. shares soared on Friday, adding to this week’s triple-digit rally as day traders touted the Los Angeles-based company, whose platform helps companies manage technical and customer support.
The shares climbed 34% to close at $26.33 on Friday, the highest since 2000. Earlier, the stock had surged as much as 203%. Support.com was among the most mentioned companies in Stocktwits over the previous day and trading volume on Friday was more than 1,500% the three-month average.
Retail traders began taking note of Support.com last month, after short bets piled up against the company, and interest in the stock appeared to have reignited earlier this week. Support.com gained each session this week, soaring nearly 200%. The rally has added more than $400 million to the company’s market value, which is now over $600 million.
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Earlier this week, data compiled by Vanda Research showed that Support.com was among the most highly shorted stocks to have seen a recent acceleration in buying by retail — as opposed to professional — investors. Support.com’s outstanding short interest accounts for about 60% of the float, a measure of the shares available for trading, according to data from S3 Partners.
“Shares shorted were climbing earlier in the month, but we have seen short covering recently as the shorts are in the middle of a big squeeze,” said Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners. Investors betting against the company have seen $95 million this year in mark-to-market losses, with Friday’s surge showing “the squeeze will continue and accelerate,” he said.
Support.com is scheduled to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 10 regarding the proposed merger with Bitcoin miner Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc.
(Updates share price moves throughout and chart.)
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