Meme stocks in reverse as Bed Bath & Beyond slump spooks investors

Vinco Ventures

19/08/2022 15:17

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Retail favorites GameStop and AMC
Entertainment fell on Friday, undoing much of their recent gains
after billionaire Ryan Cohen abruptly dumped his stake in
struggling retailer Bed Bath & Beyond days after he took a
bullish options position in the stock.
    Bed Bath & Beyond Inc's shares  BBBY.O  extended their
plunge, falling 42% to $10.80, after Cohen said a day earlier he
had sold his 9.8% stake in the company, almost five months after
amassing it and pushing for changes.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2ZU2DC
    The stake sale could result in a windfall between $55
million and $60 million for Cohen, according to a Reuters review
of regulatory filings.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2ZU616
    Bed Bath & Beyond's shares shot up to $30 earlier this week
after Cohen bought some call options on Tuesday, vaulting from
$4.38 in July in frenzied trading that evoked memories of the
meme-stock rally of early 2021. 
    Should losses hold, the stock is set to swallow its weekly
gains of 43%.
    "If he hadn't sold, this stock seemed to have real potential
as GME 2.0. Ryan selling killed any momentum unfortunately,"
said a retail trader, who had invested in Bed Bath & Beyond when
the stock was at $6.
    Cohen has about 12% stake in GameStop Corp  GME.N , which at
the height of the retail frenzy in January 2020 had shot up
1,600%, and is the largest shareholder.
    GameStop and AMC Entertainment  AMC.N  were down between 4%
and 6%. E-commerce firm Vinco Ventures  BBIG.O  slumped 17%.
    Despite Friday's losses, the stocks were up in the range of
3% to 55% this month.
    "This latest rollercoaster isn't likely to extinguish the
meme stock trend," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and
markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, adding the urge to ride
the wave of speculation has gained ground as Wall Street has
rallied over recent weeks.
    

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Bed Bath and Beyond    https://tmsnrt.rs/3Pz2UZl
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 (Reporting by Anisha Sircar, Susan Mathew and Bansari Mayur
Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
 ((Anisha.Sircar@thomsonreuters.com;))