Wendy's stock surges on CFO hire, meme trader activity
Key takeaways
- Wendy's stock was more traded in premarket hours than chip makers Micron and Intel, with more than 14 million shares changing hands before the opening bell, according to Barron's.
- The executive appointment served as a catalyst, but retail traders appeared to be the primary force behind the magnitude of the move.
- Traders identified Wendy's as a short-squeeze candidate given the sizable bearish position in the stock.
Wendy's stock surges on CFO hire, meme trader activity Quartz · Nur Photo / Getty Images Cris Tolomia Wed, June 24, 2026 at 7:47 PM GMT+7 2 min read WEN MU INTC Wendy's stock jumped more than 20% in premarket trading Wednesday after the fast-food chain named Steve Cirulis as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer, a move that touched off a wave of retail investor enthusiasm centered on the chain's potential as a short-squeeze target.
Wendy's stock was more traded in premarket hours than chip makers Micron and Intel, with more than 14 million shares changing hands before the opening bell, according to Barron's. A sustained close at those levels would mark the stock's best daily performance in over five years.
The executive appointment served as a catalyst, but retail traders appeared to be the primary force behind the magnitude of the move. Data from Swaggy Stocks, as cited by CNBC, showed Wendy's had climbed to second place among all stocks by mention volume on Reddit in the preceding day. On Stocktwits the ticker hit the top of the trending charts, and WallStreetBets on Reddit was flooded with discussion of the chain.