GameStop’s May Meme Revival Saw Dropoff in Retail Participation
- SEC’s data on stock suggest retail trading waned this spring
- Odd lot volume share reached 27% in May, down from 56% in 2021
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GameStop Corp.’s second turn in the meme spotlight this spring failed to attract the herd of retail traders who made the company a household name in 2021, according to trade data released Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Judging by odd lot volume as a percentage of all volume during the May frenzy, retail participation was roughly half what it was during the original bout in January 2021. Odd lots, or trades of less than 100 shares, can serve as a crude proxy for retail participation since individual investors typically trade smaller quantities, while institutional investors tend to trade in round lots, or orders divisible by 100.