Social media interest fuels jump in Tanger Factory

Social media interest fuels jump in Tanger Factory

Shares in real estate investment trust Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, which is currently heavily shorted, hit an over two-year peak on Thursday, buoyed by an unexpectedly strong retail interest on social media platforms.

Tanger’s stock rose as much as 26.3% to $22.40 in early trade on Thursday, its highest level since February 2019, before paring early gains. It was up a shade over 6% at 11.10 ET.

The latest rally comes on the heels of a similar social media-driven surge in shares of mortgage lenders such as Quicken Loans parent Rocket Companies and UWM Holdings earlier this week.

Mentions of North Carolina-based shopping center REIT Tanger on trading-focused social media site Stocktwits nearly quadrupled, with over 96% of the messages reflecting positive sentiment. A similar spike was also seen on Reddit group WallStreetBets.

Tanger is among the most heavily shorted U.S. stocks – short interest as a portion of the stock’s float stood at about 33% as on Feb. 12, according to Refinitiv Eikon’s latest data.

Tanger and fellow shopping center REIT Macerich Co were swept up in a rally among “meme stocks” in late January that also saw an unprecedented short squeeze in videogame retailer GameStop Corp.

A short squeeze is a phenomenon where investors betting against a company’s shares are forced to unwind their positions after a rally in the stock price, leading to the stock sharply rising further in value. (

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Published at Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:46:37 +0000