Bed Bath & Beyond Latest Short Squeeze Target By Investing.com

Investing.com — Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) is the latest target of retail investors trying to squeeze short-sellers, attracting a couple of Street downgrades along the way.

Shares of the home goods retailer surged 7.5% on Tuesday but are up more than 70% this year. UBS downgraded the stock to a sell rating, saying the recent run-up has “tilted the risk-reward to the downside.”

Raymond James also downgraded its rating to market perform from strong buy. “Our change in opinion is not a reflection on Bed Bath & Beyond’s turnaround potential. We continue to believe that the new management team understands the core issues within the business and has already started to show progress,” the firm said in a note.

According to StreetInsider, retail investors aggressively bought the stock on Monday pushing shares 60% higher at one point, only to give most of it back. There is also a retail versus short-seller battle going on in shares of GameStop (NYSE:GME), which was trading up 14.8% on Tuesday.

“What we are seeing is an interesting clash between retail investors and the big institutions,” Delano Saporu, founder of New Street Advisors Group, told StreetInsider. “The cheerleading and strong emotions from both sides is creating an environment of emotion-based investing.”