Executives of Etsy applaud as they open the Nasdaq MarketSite ahead of Etsy’s initial public offering in New York, April 16, 2015.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Shares of Etsy are popping after Tesla chief Elon Musk sent a simple tweet about the e-commerce company.
Ety’s stock rose more than 6% following Musk tweeted: “I kinda love Etsy.”
The e-commerce company stock wasn’t moving at all in the premarket before Musk’s callout at 6:25 a.m. ET. It was set to be the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 when markets opened.
“Bought a hand knit wool Marvin the Martian helm for my dog,” Musk tweeted, seemingly in reference to why he is a fan of Etsy.
While Musk’s opinion certainly holds a lot of weight with investors, the spike in the stock on his short message is another sign of wild, speculative trading in the market. Musk is no stranger to wild activity on Twitter, with a history of influencing stock prices, especially Tesla shares, with bold statements on the social media platform.
Musk infamously tweeted last year that Tesla’s stock was “too high,” sending shares even higher a week later.
Shares of Etsy are up more than 340% in the past 12 months as the shopping marketplace emerged as a major winner from the coronavirus pandemic. Etsy helped small businesses without an online presence reach consumers during the lockdown.
The stock is up 25% this year alone.
Also on Tuesday, Jefferies raised its 12-month price target on Etsy to a Street high of $245 per share.
“We believe behavioral changes incited by the pandemic allow ETSY to tap a broader portion of its $1.7T addressable market, leading to higher frequency and spending,” Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni told clients.
“Our DCF-derived PT increases to $245 (from $205) as accelerating traffic and our deep dive into long-term GMS improves our confidence in ETSY’s ability to continue growing faster than overall e-commerce,” Colantuoni added.
Correction: The headline was revised to correct that Musk was tweeting about the company in general.
— with reporting from CNBC’s Michael Bloom.
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