All hail Wendy's, the internet's newest meme stock

A Reddit/WallStreetBets-driven “save Wendy’s” campaign turned the chain into the latest meme stock, with heavy social buzz and traders piling in.
Shares spiked as much as 42% (closed +26%) on Wednesday, with over 200 million shares traded (about 23x normal volume) and a trading halt — the biggest jump since March 2020.
Despite the rally, Wendy’s is still down roughly 70% over three years, has high short interest (~50M shares) and closed many locations — a classic short-squeeze setup rather than clear signs of recovery.