This week, AMC, Koss and Express shares were at the top of the list of the most profitable, in keeping with the continued race to the top of the GameStop stock. The dynamic that has apparently contributed to the short squeeze of the shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp. also appears to affect the shares of a number of other companies.
The shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), BlackBerry Ltd. (BB), headphone manufacturer Koss Corp. (KOSS) and retailer Express Inc. (EXPR), all moved abruptly for no apparent reason other than that based on the same dynamic that has brought GameStop (GME) shares to the stars, with growth of over 1,600% in the last two weeks thanks to the word of mouth of investors on the Reddit WallStreetBets bulletin board.
AMC saved from bankruptcy
In the case of AMC, the world's largest cinema operator, the GameStop effect led to gains of more than 680% in 2021, despite its core business remaining highly threatened by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, AMC announced it had raised $ 917 million of shares. Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading, said it could be argued that Reddit's WallStreetBets community saved AMC from bankruptcy caused by the pandemic. “The company's market cap is nearly double that of before the coronavirus,” he said.
Express and Blackberry are also among the companies that have benefited from the Squeezening
According to Wedbush analyst Jen Redding, shares of retailer Express were among those involved in the apparent short squeeze. The stock surged 190% on Wednesday, becoming Wall Street's third-largest growing stock, approaching its highest close since November 2018. Volume surged to 120,2 million shares, compared to average. of approximately 21,2 million shares in the last 30 days.
BlackBerry was another stock involved in the recent short squeeze. Shares of the Canada-based cybersecurity software company are now up 194%. On Monday, BlackBerry commented on the recent growth of its shares, at the request of the Investment Sector Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC): “The company is not aware of any material and undisclosed business developments and has not undergone any material changes. in its business or affairs that have not been publicly disclosed that would explain the recent increase in the market price or trading volume of its common stock ”.
The stock rally was fueled by The Globe and Mail reports that BlackBerry had sold 90 patents to Chinese tech giant Huawei. Additionally, the company allegedly resolved a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook Inc. (Facebook shares - FB ticker).
However, RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Treiber argues that while the news from Huawei and Facebook is positive, the magnitude of the potential gains was likely far less than what the rally in stocks added to BlackBerry's market cap.
