What Happened?

Shares of e-commerce florist and gift retailer 1-800-FLOWERS (NASDAQ: FLWS) jumped 6.9% in the afternoon session after the stock continued to see high trading volume amid ongoing interest from speculative investors targeting the company due to its heavily shorted status. 

The move came on significant trading volume that was nearly 28% above its 50-day average. This activity followed a volatile previous trading session where the stock was a trending topic on social media platforms, with user messages about the company surging. The high level of interest appeared linked to the stock's large short position, as reports indicated more than half of its publicly traded shares had been borrowed by investors betting the price would fall. Such heavily shorted stocks often attracted speculative traders who bought shares in an attempt to drive the price up.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

1-800-FLOWERS’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 39 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock dropped 4.5% on the news that speculative investors targeted the heavily shorted stock, continuing a rally from the previous trading session. The stock's sharp rise occurred despite a lack of any specific news released by the company. Instead, the move appeared to be driven by traders who sought out stocks with high short interest, betting on dramatic price swings. This type of activity can create a rapid increase in price as investors who bet against the stock are forced to buy shares to cover their positions, pushing the price even higher regardless of the company's fundamental performance.

1-800-FLOWERS is down 38.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $4.79 per share, it is trading 47.3% below its 52-week high of $9.09 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of 1-800-FLOWERS’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $188.91.

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