Casino and lottery games maker Scientific Games soared in midday trading in what looked like a classic post-earnings short squeeze.
Scientific Games (NASDAQ:SGMS) stock jumped 18%.
The company reported mixed quarterly results after the bell yesterday.
It said it lost 26 cents per share, much wider than the 4 cents per share expected by analyst forecasts compiled by . But revenue of $837 million was better than the forecast of $834 million.
The loss was also much narrower than the year-ago figure of $2.24 per share.
The company also gave bulls something more to hang one, saying it raised $301 million following an IPO for a minority stake in its social gaming business SciPlay. The money raised will go to pay down debt.
That looked like enough good news to help the stock and leave short-sellers looking to cover positions.
About 22.5% of the stock is held short, according to ShortSqueeze.com, and shares were sold sharply this week going into earnings.
