BlackBerry joined in the broad selloff of meme stocks on Thursday.
Angel Garcia/Bloomberg
After jumping out to post a large gain Thursday morning, BlackBerry shares have now joined the other meme stocks stocks in a broad selloff.
At Thursday morning’s peak, the stock sported a gain of more than 100% in just six trading days. After trading as high as $20.17, the stock has fallen back and now shows a loss of about 6% to $14.34. Last week, it was priced in the single digits.
This latest winning streak was the second time this year that investors have aggressively bid up BlackBerry (ticker: BB) shares. In the first four weeks of January, BlackBerry stock nearly quadrupled, hitting a 10-year high. The move was apparently driven by aggressively bullish retail investors in the WallStreetBets group on Reddit—similar to the sharp rallies in shares of the videogame retailer GameStop (GME) and the movie theater operator AMC Entertainment (AMC).
On Thursday, most of the other meme plays were losing ground, as companies moved to take advantage of their surging prices by selling more shares.
The movie theater chain AMC (AMC) filed for an offering of 11.5 million shares on Thursday. In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the deal, AMC took note of the recent volatility. “Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our class A common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment,” AMC said in the filing.
The retailer Express (EXPR), which also has seen a stock price surge, filed this morning for an offering of 15 million shares—and likewise included language in the SEC filing on the recent surge in its stock price.
“Significant fluctuations in the market price of our common ctock have been accompanied by reports of strong and atypical retail investor interest, including on social media and online forums,” Expressd said in the filing. “Notwithstanding the foregoing, during that period there were no material recent changes in the financial condition or results of operations of the company, such as its earnings or revenue, that are consistent with or related to the recent changes in its stock price. The market volatility and trading patterns we have experienced create several risks for investors.”
AMC shares dived 27% Thursday morning, while Express slid 24%. GameStop (GME) fell 11%, while Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) tanked 27%.
For the January 2022 fiscal year, analysts expect BlackBerry to post revenue of $824 million, down about 10% from the $919 million reported in the previous year. Wall Street expects a loss for the year of about 5 cents a share. With Thursday’s move, BlackBerry has a market cap of about $10.2 billion.
Just four of the 16 analysts who follow BlackBerry have a Buy rating on the stock. The average price target on BlackBerry stock is $7.75, and no analyst has a target above $10 a share.
BlackBerry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
