BlackBerry shares soar as trading volume surges

FILE PHOTO: An employee works at his desk at Blackberry's Network Operating Centre (NOC) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo

(Reuters) - U.S. shares in BlackBerry were up 18.0% on Thursday on track for its sixth straight day of gains and the stock was the second most heavily traded on U.S. exchanges as individual investors on Reddit's Wallstreetbets forum turned their focus to the security software company.

BlackBerry shares last traded at $18.00 with 214,883,715 shares already changing hands an hour into the trading session compared with its 25-day moving average of 30.5 million.