(Reuters) – Shares of GameStop Corp, listed in Frankfurt, tripled at one point on Thursday, surpassing the video game retailer’s 100% rise on Wall Street overnight, with European retail traders joining to the new buying impulse.
GameStop’s shares rose up to 240% in pre-market trading and rose 210% from 0741 GMT.
The increase comes after a few weeks in which the stock moved in relatively tighter bands.
“It is a marathon, not a race. Whatever happens, resist the urge to sell. The more we hold on, the higher it goes, ”said @ catchme1fyoucan, a user in Italy of the eToro retail platform, in a GameStop discussion.
Analysts were unable to pinpoint a reason for the strong movement, but at least one dismissed a small pressure that triggered the “recovery of Reddit” in January, when amateur investors huddled in stocks the hedge funds had bet on.
Some Twitter users cited factors such as options trading and the resignation of GameStop’s chief financial officer, Jim Bell, announced on Tuesday.
US-listed GameStop shares shot up almost 104% on Wednesday and were halted several times in a spike that started after 1930 GMT. They jumped another 85% after hours.
Shares of German movie operator AMC Entertainment, another preferred stock last month by individual traders on online discussion forums like Reddit’s WallStreetBets, jumped 41% after an 18% increase in their U.S. stocks on Wednesday.
Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru and Danilo Masoni in Milan; edition of Subhranshu Sahu and Jason Neely