Meme stock Tupperware jumps as debt restructuring deal fires up retail army (updated)

Tupperware Brands

04/08/2023 14:32

(Adds comment in paragraph 4, background in paragraph 5 and
other meme stocks in paragraph 12)
       Aug 4 (Reuters) - Shares of Tupperware Brands  TUP.N 
surged 55% on Friday, after the kitchen storage container maker
finalized a debt restructuring deal, reinvigorating retail
investors' interest in the company.
    The Florida-based firm is making an attempt to turn around
its business after raising doubts in April about its ability to
continue as a going concern as it struggles with slumping sales.
    Tupperware said on Thursday it had struck an agreement with
its lenders which will help reduce or reallocate about $150
million of cash interest and fees, and would give it immediate
access to a revolving borrowing capacity of about $21 million.
    The agreement "provides a lifeline, yet the market
environment may prove to be extremely difficult," said Bartosz
Sawicki, market analyst at financial services firm Conotoxia.
    After a surge in demand for Tupperware containers to store
food during the lockdown, the company has witnessed a slide in
sales volumes since 2022.
    Widely recognized for its bright-colored plastic airtight
containers, the company had recently caught retail traders'
attention, which has helped drive a more than 449% share surge
over the past three weeks.
    Tupperware was the fourth most touted stock on
investors-focused social media, stocktwits.com on Friday.
    The share gains were reminiscent of eye watering rallies for
"meme stocks" including AMC  AMC.N  and GameStop  GME.N , where
retail investors would band together on social media and
typically focus their speculative bets on companies that were
financially struggling and had high short interest.
    Analytics firm Ortex estimated 30.8% of Tupperware's
publicly available shares were shorted. Bearish investors have
lost $33 million on paper in the past three weeks.
    Tupperware was the second most actively traded single stock
by retail traders over the past week, Peng Cheng, strategist at
J.P.Morgan, wrote in a note. 
    Tupperware held a market value of $156.56 million as of
Thursday's close, after losing about 63% off its value over the
past 12 months.
    Other meme stocks active over the past week including Yellow
 YELL.O , Nio Inc  NIO.O  and American Superconductor Corp
 AMSC.O  rose between 2.3% and 15% on Friday.

 (Reporting by Medha Singh and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru;
Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
 ((Medha.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; +91 80 6210 0592; Twitter: https://twitter.com/medhasinghs;))