Factbox: The stocks of the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy
16/02/2021 11:00
(Repeats story sent earlier with no changes to text)
NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Executives from Robinhood,
Melvin Capital and Citadel Securities are due to testify before
the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee
next week following a trading frenzy that sparked wild gyrations
in the shares of GameStop GME.N and other “meme stocks.”
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The committee is examining how an apparent flood of retail
trading drove certain stocks to extreme highs, squeezing hedge
funds like Melvin that had bet against those shares.
Here are some of the stocks involved in the initial frenzy
and how they have fared since, as of Friday's close:
** Shares of GameStop GME.N - which had been heavily
touted on Reddit’s WallStreetBets - rose by as much as 2,460% on
the year to a high of $482.25 in January, as some institutions
that had bet on declines in the stock were forced to unwind
their positions amid a flood of buying. The stock pared most of
that rally earlier this month but remains 178% higher on the
year.
** AMC Entertainment Holdings' AMC.N stock surged after
the company said bankruptcy talks were "completely off the
table." At the rally's apex, its shares touched $20.36, an 860%
jump from Dec. 31. Friday's closing price put the stock up 164%
in 2021.
** Shares of Canada’s Blackberry BB.N rallied as much as
334% but had pared that to a 97% year-to-date advance as of
Friday. The company announced late last month that it was
expanding its partnership with China-based search platform Baidu
Inc BIDU.O
** At one point, home furnishings retailer Bed Bath &
Beyond's BBBY.O had jumped by 204% year-to-date, but its
advance has since cooled to 59%.
** Pharmaceutical firm CEL-SCI Corp CVM.N shares hit a
zenith of $40.77, a 247% advance on the year, a gain that has
since shrunk to 100%.
** Finland-based Nokia NOK.N joined the short squeeze
stampede, at one point touching a 150% year-to-date gain at
$9.79 per share. That advance was recently a more modest 7%.
** Consumer electronics company Koss Corp KOSS.O was also
caught in the mania, soaring by 3,605% at one point. The stock
is now up 330% so far in 2021.
** Shares of cannabis companies - which have already notched
big rallies on hopes of decriminalization under U.S. President
Joe Biden - have been among the latest to experience wild
fluctuations. Weekly volumes in cannabis stock options soared to
an all-time high by Thursday, according to CBOE Global Markets,
and U.S.-listed shares of Tilray Inc TLRY.O and Aphria Inc
APHA.O , along with Sundial Growers SNDL.O , were at one point
up on the year by 711%, 367% and 736%, respectively. As of
Friday's close, they had gained between 144% and
339%. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2KH3LD
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
((stephen.culp@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6076;))