This month marks the one-year anniversary, or “meme-aversary”, of the epic GameStop short squeeze. After creeping up in early January 2021, the heavily-shorted stock exploded to a high of $483 on January 28 due in part to social media hype on sites like Reddit. We previously looked at the float of GME at that time. Let’s check out how the float and short interest has changed over the past year.
The GameStop phenomenon created a new investing term known as “meme stocks,” which denote stocks that have developed a significant following on social media platforms and online communities. Other popular meme stocks from early 2021 include AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (AMC) and BlackBerry Ltd. (BB). But GME is probably the most famous example. The company had hired a new chairman, Ryan Cohen, to effectuate a turnaround for the struggling video game retailer. Unfortunately, based on the following chart, this effort might take longer than most investors had hoped.
But it’s not all bad news. According to the company’s most recent quarterly report (10-Q), GameStop is sitting on a pile of $1.4 billion in cash. It’s been reported that GME may be using some of that money to enter into the non-fungible token, or NFT, space. Creating a NFT marketplace makes sense since gamers tend to be some of the earliest adopters of digital goods and real estate. In addition, GameStop doesn’t want to miss the boat on NFTs as it did with video game downloads. The company hired ex-Amazon executive, Matt Furlong, to help with the development of this nascent technology.
With those positives in mind, below is a chart of GME’s stock float and short interest over the past several months as reported by the financial sites covered here on FloatChecker. The float is listed first with the short % just below it.
 |  |  |  |  | |
| 11/02/2020 | 41.64M 309.83% | 48.60M N/A | 48.6M 164.12% | 22.70 Mil 309.83% | 48.63 M 144.63% |
| 12/02/2020 | 41.54M 297.13% | 48.60M N/A | 48.6M 123.20% | 22.70 Mil 297.13% | 48.63 M 138.70% |
| 01/01/2021 | 48.15M 249.67% | 50.68M N/A | 50.7M 127.96% | 27.29 Mil 249.67% | 50.19 M 135.74% |
| 02/01/2021 | 46.89M 226.42% | 50.65M 121.98% | 50.7M 121.91% | 27.29 Mil 226.42% | 51.03 M 121.07% |
| 03/01/2021 | 45.05M 60.35% | 54.17M 30.40% | 54.2M 30.39% | 27.29 Mil 60.35% | 54.49 M 30.22% |
| 04/01/2021 | 45.34M 44.60% | 54.16M 18.81% | 54.2M 18.54% | 27.48 Mil 44.60% | 54.63 M 18.65% |
| 05/03/2021 | 47.75M 27.23% | 54.91M 20.24% | 54.9M 19.64% | 40.80 Mil 27.23% | 56.79 M 19.57% |
| 06/01/2021 | 56.89M 29.34% | 57.03M 20.99% | 57.0M 21.16% | 40.80 Mil 29.34% | 57.00 M 21.00% |
| 07/01/2021 | 56.41M 24.54% | 58.19M 16.62% | 58.2M 16.64% | 44.41 Mil 24.54% | 57.96 M 16.68% |
| 08/02/2021 | 56.41M 18.18% | 58.19M 13.88% | 58.2M 13.91% | 44.41 Mil 18.18% | 62.22 M 12.98% |
| 09/01/2021 | 56.38M 17.05% | 58.19M 13.02% | 58.2M 13.03% | 44.41 Mil 17.05% | 63.17 M 11.99% |
| 09/10/2021 | 124.61M 17.05% | 58.19M 13.02% | 58.2M 13.03% | 46.52 Mil 17.05% | 63.17 M 11.99% |
| 09/11/2021 | 248.48M 17.05% | 58.19M 13.02% | 58.2M 13.03% | 46.52 Mil 17.05% | 62.90 M 12.40% |
| 09/12/2021 | 249.51M 17.05% | 58.19M 13.40% | 62.9M 12.43% | 46.52 Mil 16.98% | 62.90 M 12.40% |
| 09/13/2021 | 249.51M 17.05% | 58.19M 13.40% | 62.9M 12.43% | 46.52 Mil 16.98% | 62.90 M 12.40% |
| 09/14/2021 | 61.83M 16.98% | 58.19M 13.40% | 62.9M 12.43% | 46.52 Mil 16.98% | 62.90 M 12.40% |
| 09/15/2021 | 61.83M 16.98% | 58.19M 13.40% | 62.9M 12.43% | 46.52 Mil 16.98% | 62.90 M 12.40% |
| 10/15/2021 | 61.76M 16.81% | 62.81M 12.45% | 62.8M 12.48% | 46.52 Mil 16.81% | 62.83 M 12.45% |
| 11/15/2021 | 61.76M 15.18% | 62.74M 11.25% | 62.7M 11.27% | 46.52 Mil 15.18% | 62.77 M 11.25% |
| 12/15/2021 | 62.11M 13.98% | 63.33M 10.14% | 63.3M 10.25% | 46.38 Mil 13.80% | 62.98 M 10.20% |
| 01/14/2022 | 62.49M 18.22% | 63.33M 13.34% | 63.3M 13.48% | 46.38 Mil 18.22% | 62.98 M 13.42% |
While GME’s short interest may be relatively high compared to other stocks, it’s down considerably from where it was before the short squeeze. Some analysts suggest this will make it very difficult for investors to recreate the soaring stock price of January 2021. You can also see there were some discrepancies with the float values reported on Yahoo Finance in early September 2021 (see the float values in red). That caused quite a stir on subreddits like “Superstonk.” We don’t know if the error that month was due to a glitch or something more nefarious, but one thing remains certain – there are a lot of traders who remain passionate about GameStop and they will continue to scrutinize its every move.
