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

By Shashwat Chauhan

June 24 (Reuters) - Wendy's ‌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 and cinema chain AMC, burning hedge funds on the other side of the trade.

Most recently, car-rental ‌company Avis Budget 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.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and ‌Arun Koyyur)

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