Kohl's has faced tepid sales growth as it struggles to attract budget-conscious shoppers still hurting from elevated inflation. In May the retail chain, which has roughly 1,100 stores around the U.S., reported a fiscal first-quarter loss of $15 million and that net sales fell more than 4% from the year-ago period.

The recent moves revived memories of the Reddit-driven meme stock frenzy of 2021, when amateur investors pushed up shares of video-game retailer GameStop and cinema chain AMC, burning hedge funds that were on the other side of the trade.

Three of the market’s new meme stocks were making big moves again on Thursday, as the latest bout of retail-investing mania showed no sign of slowing down.