Main Street Beating Wall Street - Short Squeeze on GameStop

This case explores the general observations and financial implications behind the short squeeze that had happened on the GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), an American chain of brick-and-mortar video game stores. The company had struggled in recent years due to competition from digital distribution companies and the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the share price of GME went up due to the hope of possible digital transformation since August 2020, there had been increasingly extensive short selling activities of GME stock by many institutional investors believing the firm was overpriced. Some of those short sellers were sizable hedge funds. The case seeks to highlight the definition, underlying factors, and mechanism of short selling, naked short selling and short squeeze. The reasons for market participants to do the above, the forthcoming risks, as well as the corresponding impact to the market are discussed. The case will discuss the interaction between social media and financial system nowadays. The perspectives (including interests and concerns) of the following parties will be analyzed, namely the retail investors, hedge funds and/or market makers, brokers (especially the FinTech-enabled zero-commission brokers), and regulators. Understanding the observations and implications of the case, students will be able perform a more comprehensive analysis on how social media and new technology shape the new investment world. Students will also be able to assess their own risks in conducting trades amid a short squeeze, or in anticipation of a short squeeze.