Discovery Stock Is Up 123% This Year — Thanks To The GameStop, AMC Short Squeeze

Shares of media company Discovery Inc. DISCA closed at an all-time high on Monday and have more than doubled since January this year, likely benefiting from the short squeeze on heavily-shorted stocks such as GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC earlier this year.

What Happened: Discovery’s shares have gained 123% on a year-to-date basis. The stock’s initial gains came after the company launched the Discovery+ streaming service on January 4 this year.

While reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter in late February, Discovery said it has surpassed 11 million total paying direct-to-consumer subscribers globally.

Also Read: Discovery Plans to Bring Oprah and Martha Stewart To A Global Audience, CEO Says

However, much of the stock’s surge came following the GameStop Corp. GME saga in late January, when a short squeeze fueled by users of Reddit investor forum r/WallStreetBets sent the shares of GameStop, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC and several other companies soaring.

Discovery now has a market capitalization of more than $29 billion. The company owns cable networks such as Food Network, TLC, OWN, HGTV and its flagship Discovery Channel.

See Also: Discovery’s Debt Overview

Why It Matters: According to a report by CNBC — quoting data by research firm FactSet, Discovery is among the ten most-shorted companies among U.S. listed securities.

However, Discovery’s stock does not seem to have been a target of the short squeeze, as per the report. Rather, the stock may have benefited as short sellers unwound their positions to avoid being squeezed in case Discovery became a target of retail investors.

Price Movement: Discovery shares closed almost 4.7% higher on Monday at $67.25.

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel via Wikimedia

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