Corrects typographical error in fifth bullet to say shares changed hands on Wednesday

** Shares of fast-food chain Wendy's WEN.O jump 17.1% to $9.2 premarket after surging more than 25% in the last session

** Stock is No.2 trending ticker on retail investor forum Stocktwits

** Second-most mentions on Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets over last 24 hours - sentiment aggregator SwaggyStocks

** Retail traders bought net $14.9 mln worth of WEN stock on Wednesday - the biggest one-day move in over five-years, as per Vanda Research data

** More than $1.68 bln worth of WEN shares exchanged hands on Wednesday - well above the five-year average of $61.3 mln

** Shares have heavy bearish bets with short interest standing at 34% of free-float as of Wednesday, according to ORTEX

** WEN on Tuesday named industry veteran Steve Cirulis as CFO after last month's CEO change

** As of last close, WEN shares down 5.6% YTD compared to a 12.6% rise in the S&P 600 Restaurants index .SPSMCREST