Wendy’s hits over seven-month high as retail traders spark meme-like rally

June 24 (Reuters) – Wendy’s (WEN.O), opens new tab highly shorted shares jumped to a ‌more than seven-month high on Wednesday as retail traders flocked to the beaten-down stock of the fast-food chain, in the latest meme-like rally.

They were up 28.5% at $9 when trading restarted after multiple halts due to volatility. The shares ​rose as much as 41.9% to briefly hit their highest level since November ​2025.

The ticker was the #1 trending stock on retail investor forum Stocktwits on ⁠Wednesday morning. It also had the second-highest mentions over the last 24 hours ​on Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets, according to sentiment aggregator SwaggyStocks.

In the first half-hour of trading on ​Wednesday, retail investors bought net $2.3 million worth of Wendy’s stock, building on purchases of $2.2 million earlier this week, according to Vanda Research data.

As of last close, the shares have fallen more than 78% from their June ​2021 record highs, including a 24.9% drop this year, as it battles weak sales and ​pressure from an activist investor. It named a new CEO last month and a new finance chief on Tuesday.

Short interest in ‌Wendy’s ⁠stock stood at 34% of its free float as of Wednesday, according to ORTEX. Bearish investors in the stock stare at $45 million in paper losses, if the gains hold.

ORTEX co-founder Peter Hillerberg said the stock was primed for a “short squeeze,” but was not ​in one yet as ​most short sellers were ⁠still near their entry price and not forced to cover their positions due to recent share weakness.

“That only changes if the ​rally keeps running,” he said.

Wednesday’s move mirrors the Reddit-driven meme stock ​frenzy of ⁠2021, when amateur investors pushed up shares of video-game retailer GameStop (GME.N), opens new tab and cinema chain AMC (AMC.N), opens new tab, burning hedge funds on the other side of the trade.

Most recently, car-rental company Avis Budget (CAR.O), opens new tab ⁠in ​April witnessed sharp share swings.

Trading activity was robust, with more ​than $790 million worth of Wendy’s shares changing hands as of 10:30 a.m. ET, around 11 times the one-year average of $68.4 million, according ​to LSEG data.