U.S. video game retailer GameStop announced Sunday it has made an unsolicited, non-binding offer to acquire eBay for $125 per share in a cash-and-stock deal, valuing the e-commerce platform at roughly $55.5 billion.

The offer, split evenly between cash and GameStop common stock, represents a 20% premium to eBay’s Friday close of $104.07, and a 46% premium to its closing price on Feb. 4 — when the gaming retail giant started building a stake in the company, GameStop said in its statement.

Shares of eBay surged as much as 13.4% in after-hours trading to around $118. GameStop, which became a so-called “meme stock” during a 2021 retail frenzy that drove sharp gains in its shares, jumped around 4% to $27.6 per share.

The announcement came as GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen told the Wall Street Journal that he saw a path to make the e-commerce company a much bigger competitor to Amazon.com.

“EBay should be worth — and will be worth — a lot more money,” Cohen said. “I’m thinking about turning eBay into something worth hundreds of billions of dollars.”

GameStop has built a roughly 5% stake in eBay and secured a commitment letter from TD Bank for up to $20 billion in debt financing to make the deal possible, according to its statement. The remainder of the deal would be funded from its approximately $9.4 billion cash pile.

The proposal is subject to approval from eBay’s board of directors, regulators, and shareholders from both companies. EBay did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Both companies have struggled to adapt to shifting consumer preferences, and it remains unclear whether eBay’s board will view GameStop — whose own market capitalization stood at roughly $11 billion before the news broke — as a credible acquirer for a company four times its size.

GameStop had a market value of $12 billion while eBay was much larger at around $46 billion, as of Friday, according to LSEG data, raising questions about the feasibility of the bid.

Cohen told the Journal he is prepared to take the offer directly to shareholders in a proxy fight if necessary. Should the deal close, Cohen is expected to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the combined company, according to GameStop’s statement.

In its offer, GameStop said it would cut $2 billion in annual costs within a year, targeting eBay’s bloated sales and marketing budget, which totaled $2.4 billion in fiscal 2025 while net active buyer growth remained flat at less than 0.75%.

“More spend is not producing more users on a marketplace with near-universal brand recognition,” the statement said.

The company projected that cost reductions alone would lift eBay’s earnings per share, measured under standard U.S. accounting rules, to $7.79 from $4.26 in the first year.

GameStop also pitched its roughly 1,600 U.S….

Retail traders are diving back into some of the market’s most speculative corners, with a regulatory shift removing barriers to rapid-fire trading and helping revive the kind of meme-stock frenzy that has historically delivered sharp gains, and even sharper reversals.

April’s rally in risk assets, fueled in part by an Iran ceasefire, has emboldened individual investors to pile back into volatile trades. In one of the more striking examples, retail traders stampeded into Allbirds after the troubled shoemaker slapped an artificial intelligence label on its business.

Shares surged to as high as $24 from roughly $2.50 after the company outlined plans to rebrand as NewBird AI and pivot toward compute infrastructure. Much of that advance has already unraveled, with the stock recently changing hands near $8 — a sharp reversal that underscores the volatility of such trades.

A similarly dramatic move led by smaller traders played out in Avis Budget Group. Shares of the company, ticker “CAR,” soared from under $100 last month to a record high near $850 in early trading Wednesday, before staging a sharp intraday U-turn lower, serving as another reminder of how quickly momentum-driven rallies can unwind.

Analysts at JPMorgan said crowding in so-called meme stocks has surged, approaching levels just shy of the extremes seen during the post-Liberation Day risk chase.

The Wall Street firm noted that a key catalyst may be a recent rule change by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this month, the regulator approved a proposal by FINRA to eliminate the so-called pattern day trader rule. Under the rule, traders who executed four or more day trades within five business days had to maintain a minimum equity of $25,000 in a margin account.

The new rule does away with the $25,000 requirement, replacing it with a more flexible “intraday margin” rule. FINRA called the old rule, hatched in the wake of the Dotcom crash “outdated.”

“This change opens the door for more investors with smaller accounts to trade more actively, while still keeping protections in place through modern margin and risk controls,” Adam Cohn, head of trading operations at TradeStation, told CNBC. “Removing that barrier means more people can participate in short-term trading strategies … We’ll see a more open market with broader participation and more liquidity.”

JPMorgan analysts said the shift could drive a further pick-up in retail volumes in the coming months, reinforcing momentum in already crowded trades.

The Iran war news flow-driven oil moves are drawing retail investors into the world’s most traded commodity, further fueling volatility.

Small investors have poured record sums into oil-linked exchange-traded funds in recent weeks as prices have whipsawed amid the Middle East conflict and fears of extended disruptions to crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

The rush has prompted some analysts to draw parallels with past retail trading frenzies in stocks such as GameStop or commodities such as silver, signaling that crude oil market could be exposed to “meme-style” trades.

“Oil is now definitely a retail ‘meme theme’. Retail investors have been piling into the major pure-play oil ETFs ever since the start of the Iran conflict,” said Viraj Patel, global macro strategist at Vanda Research.

Net retail buying of oil ETFs hit a record $211 million on March 12, surpassing the previous peak seen during the market turmoil in May 2020, according to data from Vanda Research. 

Having hit a record $42 million on March 6, the popular United States Oil Fund, or USO, clocked its third best day for retail inflows at $32 million last Thursday.

The surge in retail participation comes as geopolitical tensions dominate oil markets, and especially as participation in oil markets has become easier, lowering barriers for individual investors.

Retail traders can gain exposure throughs ETFs such as the USO or the United States Brent Oil Fund (BNO), while smaller futures contracts have also made direct trading more accessible.

Traders have been closely watching the possibility of further supply disruptions, particularly as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global energy flows, has been effectively closed.

That uncertainty has made oil prices unusually volatile, drawing speculative interest from traders seeking to profit from rapid price swings, said market watchers.

Users on Reddit have been discussing buying oil ETFs to capitalize on the Iran conflict-driven rally, with traders boasting of quick profits and debating whether the surge still has “meat on the bone,” reminiscent of the speculation seen during previous meme-stock episodes.

Silver’s rapid surge and equally dramatic reversal in recent weeks has led market watchers to ask a fundamental question: when does an asset stop trading on fundamentals and start behaving like a meme?

The volatility in silver prices has drawn growing comparisons to meme stocks such as GameStop, the video-game retailer that became a global phenomenon in 2021 after retail traders on Reddit piled in en masse, sending its shares soaring far beyond what traditional valuation models could justify.

Meme stocks are typically characterized by a few core traits: sharp, often parabolic price moves, heavy participation by retail investors and narratives that go viral on social media, sometimes overwhelming fundamentals altogether. Liquidity can rush in quickly, and often exits just as fast.

Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Bull and Baird, laid out the comparison bluntly on X: “How is Silver different than, say, GameStop?” he asked in a post last week. “Is this not a meme now?”

He told CNBC that the metal has reached a kind of “zeitgeist” with retail traders who are starting to move as a herd. While silver does have industrial and consumer uses, prices do not usually move over 100% in three months: “It is totally disconnected and went vertical based on retail flows,” he said.

Individual investors on Jan. 26 poured about $171 million net into the iShares Silver Trust, a popular exchange-traded fund that tracks the metal, according to recent market research firm VandaTrack. That was almost double the previous peak recorded during the “silver squeeze” of 2021.

Spot silver prices advanced almost 5% to $83.37 per ounce on Tuesday, while silver futures in New York rose over 9% to $84 per ounce.

Over the past month, silver has recorded 10 moves of 5% or more in either direction.

“Silver has just become retail’s new [favorite] toy,” Vanda analyst Ashwin Bhakre said.

That enthusiasm is visible across Reddit. The platform played a central role in the original meme-stock phenomenon, with Reddit community WallStreetBets being at the forefront of coordinating retail buying in GameStop in 2021.

On the Reddit Silverbugs forum — a community where users document physical purchases, debate price targets and share memes — posts following the recent sell-off are emblematic of the meme-stock culture.

“Bought the dip today! DIAMOND HANDS,” wrote Reddit user Jstaakz following the sell-off Friday. “Diamond hands” is a meme-stock term used by retail traders to signal that they plan to keep holding an asset despite sharp losses or extreme volatility, often as a show of conviction or defiance against selling pressure.

Another user asked fellow…

Beyond Meat shares closed lower Wednesday, erasing a triple-digit gain, as the meme stock rally faltered.

The food company known for its plant-based burgers and sausages fell 1.1% on Wednesday, after surging 112% at one point in the session. The stock reached a high of $7.69 during the session, after closing Tuesday at $3.62. It ended Wednesday’s session at $3.58.

It’s the latest in a volatile week for the company. On Monday, the stock rallied more than 127% after Roundhill Investments, which develops thematic ETFs, added the name to its Roundhill Meme Stock ETF (MEME).

That decision appeared to have the added effect of driving a short squeeze in the stock, as investors rushed to cover their positions. According to FactSet data, more than 63% of the shares available for trading were sold short.

On Tuesday, Beyond Meat soared 146% in its best day ever, after saying it will expand distribution at Walmart‘s stores.

Shares of Beyond Meat have been under pressure for a long time. After making its public debut in 2019, when the name soared past $230 per share, it has since become a penny stock. The shares have slid in each of the last five years, falling more than 47% in 2021, 81% in 2022, 27% in 2023, and 57% in 2024. The name is down more than 3% in 2025.

The latest bad news for the stock came last week, when shares tumbled more than 67% to end the week at just 65 cents after Beyond Meat said it has finalized a debt deal.

This week’s comeback, however, is reminiscent of the height of the pandemic, when retail traders took on online message boards such as Reddit’s WallStreetBets to coordinate moves behind high-risk, aggressive trades.

In 2021, Bank of America said Beyond Meat was a Reddit stock to watch, though it ended that same year with losses.

The return of Beyond Meat could be the latest signal of a frothy market, one that is relentlessly climbing higher in spite of concerns around elevated valuations and a possible artificial intelligence bubble. Indeed, Roundhill shut its meme ETF down at one point because of lack of interest. It revived it earlier this month as retail traders dove back into the bull market.

In response to someone on WallStreetBets saying they bought 10,000 shares of Beyond Meat for $7.50, one commenter wrote earlier Wednesday, “Youre already down 7k, impressive.”

Another posted: “You know the economy is cooked when BYND stock is making a comeback.”

With Opendoor shares up almost fivefold since the beginning of July and trading volumes hitting record levels, CEO Carrie Wheeler thanked investors for their “enthusiasm” on Tuesday’s earnings call.

“I want to acknowledge the great deal of interest in Opendoor lately and that we’re grateful for it,” Wheeler said, even as the stock sank more than 20% after hours. “We appreciate your enthusiasm for what we’re building, and we’re listening intently to your feedback.”

Prior to its recent surge, Opendoor’s stock had been mostly abandoned, falling as low as 51 cents in late June. The situation was so dire that the company was considering a reverse split that could lift the price of each share by as much 50 times as a potential way to keep its Nasdaq listing. Opendoor said last week that it’s back in compliance and canceled the reverse split proposal.

Opendoor’s business is centered around using technology to buy and sell homes, pocketing the gains. The company was founded in 2014 and went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) during the Covid-era boom of late 2020. But when interest rates began climbing in 2022, higher borrowing costs reduced demand for homes.

Revenue sank by about two-thirds from $15.6 billion in 2022 to $5.2 billion last year.

Much of the stock’s bounce in the past six weeks was spurred by hedge fund manager Eric Jackson, who announced in July that his firm had taken a position in Opendoor. Jackson said he believes Opendoor’s stock could eventually get to $82. It closed on Tuesday at $2.52, before dropping below $2 in extended trading.

Jackson’s bet is that a return to revenue growth and increased market share will lead to profitability, and that investors will start ascribing a reasonable sales multiple to the business.

The turnaround isn’t yet showing much evidence of working. For the second quarter, Opendoor reported a revenue increase of about 4% to $1.57 billion. Its net loss narrowed to $29 million, or 4 cents a share, from $92 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier.

In the current quarter, Opendoor is projecting just $800 million to $875 million in revenue, which would represent a decline of at least 36% from a year earlier. Opendoor said it expects to acquire just 1,200 homes in the the third quarter, down from 1,757 in the second quarter and 3,504 in the third quarter of 2024. It’s also pulling down marketing spending.

“The housing market has further deteriorated over the course of the last quarter,” finance chief Selim Freiha said on Tuesday’s earnings call. “Persistently high mortgage rates continue to suppress buyer demand, leading to lower clearance and record new listings.”

Wheeler highlighted Opendoor’s effort to expand its business beyond so-called iBuying and into more of a referrals business that’s less capital intensive. She called it “the most important strategic shift in our history.”

Investors, who have been bidding up the stock in waves, were less than enthused with what they heard. But at least…