Wow, if you were checking the US stock markets yesterday (that’s Tuesday, July 22, 2025, for us here in India), you might have spilled your chai looking at Kohl’s! This isn’t just a regular department store anymore; its stock, ticker KSS, has just gone on an absolutely wild ride, surging over 30% in what looks exactly like one of those famous “meme stock” rallies we’ve seen before.
Seriously, it was a day for the history books. Shares of Kohl’s literally more than doubled at one point right after the markets opened in the US, before some of those gains settled down. The trading was so intense that they even had to pause it a few times to try to cool things down – talk about a stock giving everyone whiplash!
What’s Cooking? A Recipe for a Meme Stock Surge!
So, why all the fuss about Kohl’s? Well, it seems the internet, specifically forums like Reddit’s “Wall Street Bets,” got a hold of it. If you recall the GameStop frenzy from a few years ago, this has a similar vibe.
The main ingredient for this kind of surge is what they call “high short interest.” Imagine a bunch of big investors (hedge funds, usually) are betting that a company’s stock price is going to go down. They “short” the stock, hoping to repurchase it at a lower price later and pocket the difference. However, suppose a large group of individual investors (often referred to as “apes” in these online communities) decides to buy up a heavily shorted stock. In that case, it forces those big investors to buy shares to cover their bets, driving the price even higher. This is a “short squeeze,” and Kohl’s was perfectly set up for it.
Kohl’s is a real estate company pretending to be a retailer but bondholders trading at 56¢ already know this
Billions in unencumbered assets mean someone will get paid when the story breaks.
The only question: who collects, and how much?$KSS pic.twitter.com/Y8zyEbvMKo
— junkbondinvestor (@junkbondinvest) July 22, 2025
Reports indicate that around 50% of Kohl’s shares were “shorted” – a substantial amount. Additionally, Kohl’s is a household name in the US; many people grew up shopping there. This combination of high short interest and name recognition makes it a prime target for retail investors looking to, shall we say, stir things up.
The sheer volume of trading yesterday was insane. It was nearly 17 times higher than Kohl’s average daily trading volume over the last month! When you see that kind of activity without any significant news from the company itself, you know it’s likely a grassroots, retail-driven movement.
A Retail Giant’s Struggles Meet Online Firepower
Now, while the stock was doing gymnastics, Kohl’s as a business has been in a tough spot. They have over 1,100 stores, but they’ve been battling falling sales and stiff competition for a while. In fact, just a couple of months ago, they projected that their sales would actually decrease by 5% to 7% for the whole of 2025.
On top of that, they’re currently being led by an interim CEO after their previous wild CEO left due to some, let’s just say, “conflict of interest” issues. The company has also been through the wringer wild with various takeover bids and demands from activist investors to shake things up.
So, you have a well-known brand that’s been struggling, combined with a vast number of people betting against it, and then suddenly, a wave of individual investors decides to band together. It’s like pouring petrol on a spark!
What’s Next for This wild Rollercoaster Ride?
For those who bought wild Kohl’s shares yesterday and managed to sell near the peak, it was a wild fantastic day. But these “meme stock” surges are notoriously unpredictable. wild They can shoot up incredibly fast, but they can also crash back down just as quickly, leaving some investors with losses if they wild bought at the top.
Kohl’s is up +84% pre-market… $KSS
It’s time to cut rates. pic.twitter.com/VluFM7XhRR
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) July 22, 2025
The big question now is whether this sudden enthusiasm from retail investors can actually last, or if the stock will eventually return to trading based on Kohl’s actual business performance. History tells us that these rallies often burn bright and then fade.
For now, everyone’s watching to see if the retail trading frenzy continues, or if yesterday was just a thrilling, albeit brief, chapter in Kohl’s stock story. It indeed served as a reminder that in today’s markets, sometimes it’s less about the numbers and more about the crowd.
