French satellite company Eutelsat is getting the “GameStop” treatment amid European concerns over Elon Musk’s Starlink

Call it JeuArrêt.

French-based satellite company Eutelsat is on a tear reminiscent of the short squeezes seen in GameStop in 2021 and 2024.

The firm had a market cap well shy of $1 billion heading into March. It’s since spiked to north of $4 billion at its peak last week, and is on the verge of eclipsing that milestone after another big gain today.

To be a good meme stock, you need a story that stirs the passions. GameStop, for instance, gave retail traders the opportunity to breathe new financial life into a company that was the source of many nostalgic childhood memories.

In Eutelsat, you’re not only doing battle against the hedge funds that were short the stock en masse; you’re also making a stand against world’s richest man Elon Musk and the US government amid worries that Ukraine might lose access to Starlink. Eutelsat has been floated as a possible replacement in ensuring military communications stay online for the war-torn nation. After Poland’s foreign minister suggested that SpaceX may prove to be “an unreliable provider,” Elon Musk responded, “Be quiet, small man,” on X, adding that he wouldn’t turn off Ukraine’s Starlink terminals.

“Eutelsat” is also starting to get a bit of traction on the r/wallstreetbets subreddit.

As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. But the French translation really adds some punch to this meme stock rally: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”