Support.com stock squeezes higher by more than 100%
Shares gained as much as 118%
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Support.com Inc. shares squeezed higher Friday as a stockholder vote neared on the proposed merger with bitcoin miner Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc.
Shares of the Sunnyvale, California-based technical support company soared by as much as 118% to a record high $42.93 apiece before paring their gains. The stock, which has been halted several times due to volatility, was up 448% over the past nine sessions.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPRT | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
A "Gamma squeeze + momentum buying + some short covering = monster rally," wrote Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at financial-analytics firm S3 Partners.
A gamma squeeze occurs when open options positions force additional buying of the underlying stock. Such an instance occurred when AMC Entertainment shares skyrocketed earlier this year.
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The squeeze in Support.com shares that has occurred over the past week has sent short-sellers scrambling to cover their positions, resulting in interest decreasing by 238,000 shares.
Still, short interest is $117.45 million, or 5.96 million shares which account for nearly 60% of the float, or shares available for trading, S3 data shows.
Traders betting against Support.com have $71 million in mark-to-market losses in August, according to S3. They have lost $95 million this year.
Support.com on March 22 announced an all-stock merger with Greenidge Generation, a bitcoin mining and power generation company. Support.com shareholders are scheduled to vote on the transaction on September 10.
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Upon completion of the deal, Support.com stockholders would receive approximately 0.124 shares of Class A common stock of Greenidge for each share of Support.com owned.