Shares of Kohl's ( KSS 36.04%) were soaring today after the ailing department store chain became the latest stock to get the meme treatment, following in the footsteps of Opendoor Technologies ' meteoric rise in recent weeks.

Retail investors have begun to pile into speculative bets on small-cap companies in a buildup that resembles the meme stock frenzy of 2021.

The latest meme-stock frenzy shows that “market psychology and crowd behavior can sometimes matter more than the numbers,” says Capital.com analyst Daniela Sabin Hathorn

A key reason why Kohl's Corp. stock received the attention it has this week, has been because of the number of shares bet against the company.