Alfi shares tumble from record, 'meme stock' Torchlight also sinks
Reuters
Published Jun 23, 2021 05:45AM ET
Updated Jun 23, 2021 03:16PM ET
(Reuters) - Shares of retail darlings Alfi Inc and Torchlight Energy were both down more than 20% on Wednesday, highlighting the wild ride facing investors in so-called meme stocks in a year that has thrown the spotlight on individual traders.
Shares of software firm Alfi were last down 24.4% at $12.32 after more than doubling in price to close at $16.29 in the previous session.
Analysts and social media users had pointed to an article on Benzinga.com, which quoted the company’s CEO and said Alfi would buy back $2 million of its shares, as a catalyst for Tuesday’s move.
Alfi confirmed this on Wednesday, announcing board approval for repurchases of up to $2 million. The stock pared some losses after the news before losing ground again.
Another retail darling, Torchlight Energy was down 26% on Wednesday, after a 29% slide in the previous day's session after it increased its stock offering to $250 million.
Shares of a group of heavily shorted companies including video game retailer GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) and cinema operator AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) Holdings Inc have seen wild swings this year in a phenomenon dubbed the "meme stock" rally that has been driven by retail traders on online discussion forums.
Although short interest in Alfi was at 3.85% of its free float at the end of May, according to the latest Refinitiv data, the company was among the top 10 trending stocks on trading-focused social media site Stocktwits, a platform commonly seen as a measure of interest from retail investors.
GameStop has also cashed in on the Reddit-driven rally in its stock, saying on Tuesday it had raised $1.13 billion in its latest share offering. Its shares were down 1%, after a 10% gain in the previous session.
Another meme stock, Clover Health Investments Corp was up 7.4% in high-volume trading while ContextLogic Inc was down 0.3% and AMC shares were basically flat.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.