GameStop
GameStop, a traditional retail hub for video games and electronics, was at the epicenter of an unprecedented stock market event in January 2021. Prior to the event, its stock price oscillated around $17 per share in January 5, 2021, but it point peaked spectacularly up to $483. By relying on a massive short squeeze operation, the retail investors who communicated through a dedicated space on the website, r/WallStreetBets, focused on the major institutional short sellers. As such, the GameStop event may fortuitously prove one of the most spectacular volatilities across the entire history of the stock exchange, empowering social media driven influence.
Financial Implication and Volume’s Dimension
With respect to financial correction and the amplitude of the applied trading volume, January 22, 2021, saw the immense rise of GameStop’s trading volume. According to Taylor, over 197 million shares were traded at the peak of the frenzy while, on average, only 10.6 million shares were traded a year prior. As a result, the dramatic rise of the traded shares exacerbated a simultaneous liquidity augment and the fierce corollary of unprecedented volatility throughout the intraday sessions, creating blockers on both trading opportunity and risk.
Events and Collected Quotes
A variety of stakeholders were reflecting on the dramatic event. However, the celebs and prominent figures in the stock exchange field were mainly condoning and further empowering the natural Gamestop-rooting the retail investors. The tweet of the owner of Tesla; “Gamestonk!!”that redirects to r/WallStreetBets collected the most likes. Lastly, Hedge Fund Melvin trader simply stated that “GameStop is so fucked”.
Reasons GameStop Remains Trending Stock
Although, by April, the stock has stabilized between being over $200 and, currently, about $180 as per May, the Gamestop event becomes one of the significant neutral products surrounded with the buzz of financial management. The David and the Goliath metaphor is attracting attention and admiration across all stakeholder segregation.
AMC
Early 2021 became the period of uncontrollable and unpredictable movement on the stock market, where AMC Entertainment quickly found itself in the center of attention. With the beginning of the year, the stock’s price significantly collapsed and reached the bottom near $2 per share.
However, the situation rapidly changed in February when Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets and other individuals who support AMC because they believe that the business actually worth more and can significantly recover post-pandemic encouraged numerous smaller investors to start buying. Since May 2021, the stock price started gaining its position and continued doing so for the next two months.
The historical maximum accumulated up to $72.62 was reached in June 2021, and after a correction, it stabilized near $45.
Strategic Moves
In response to the overflow-induced unpredictability on the stock market, the leaders of AMC decided to take serious action to prevent possible bankruptcy. As the capacity of the theaters remained highly uncertainty because of the global shutdown of the entire industry, the stock price gave the leaders the means to rise. In 2021, reflecting on the high demand from smaller traders, AMC Entertainment initiated a new emissions of shared and earned more than 817 million dollars.
The liquidity generated for further operation allowed the company to repay a significant amount of the debt and focus on business, securing its position on the market. In multiple interviews, both celebrities and trading analysts reaffirmed the position of AMC as the centralized cultural institution worthy of existence, which, alongside with the valuable advice of Mark Cuban to not sell, contributed to the stability and exorbitant growth in the price of the stock.
Tesla
Tesla, Inc. belongs to electric vehicles and clean energy products manufacturing segment within the automotive industry. This high-tech company has provided to the market numerous innovative solutions, which led to unparalleled growth in this problematic situation. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the financial success of Tesla, Inc. and its sources.
First of all, the stock performance of Tesla, Inc. could be characterized as record-breaking. Coming from a minimal level of $17 per share of the company’s IPO in 2010, the company’s stock has been rising exponentially since that time. By November 2020, the value of the company’s stock was exceeding $1200 per share. The main triggers of such an impressive increase lied in the company’s stock split, which allowed retail investors to afford buying it. Moreover, in December 2020, Tesla, Inc. became a part of S&P 500, which forced institutional investors to acquire those shares too.
Secondly, innovative sources of revenue increase profit margins of this company significantly. In Q1 2021, Tesla, Inc. reported record revenue of $10.39 billion. However, less than half of this revenue came from selling cars, and a substantial part of the revenue was related to the company’s clean energy business. This business comprises sales of both solar panels and energy storage systems. The positive aspect of this company is the balance of its profit, which is demonstrated by the net income of $438 million.
Thirdly, Tesla’s, Inc. expansion into global markets is successfully executed, and it has established Gigafactories not only in Shanghai but also in Berlin and Texas. Their efficient work is important in the sufficient meeting the constantly increasing demand for electric vehicles. Finally, this company is heavily influenced by its founder Elon Musk, who shares his thoughts and comments in tweets, which have a strong impact on the company’s stock position.
BlackBerry
After many years of leadership in the mobile phone making industry, BlackBerry shifted its focus, and today it is specializing in cybersecurity and embedded software. This change was long-needed, as the once high-flying mobile phone making giant’s greatest stock acquisition price was over $140. This happened in the year 2008. However, as the years were rolling, this company was finding it difficult to compete with smartphones from the likes of Apple and producers of Android. Realizing that quick and decisive action was needed, BlackBerry changed its focus to become a provider of software solutions.
The shift of focus from mobile phone making to software solutions like cybersecurity and the Internet of Things stabilized this company. This is evident from the fact that the price of BlackBerry stock oscillated from $5 and $9 in the recent past.
The tables below and the financial reports show that BlackBerry is a company in transition.
In the 2021 fiscal year, revenue stood at $893 million. It is important to emphasize that much of this money is attributed to the sale of the QNX and the provision of cybersecurity services. BlackBerry has been able to win large contracts with governments and other big firms that appreciate the need for enhanced security. This is an important company that is valued by many businesses.
Cybersecurity
Large investments in the acquisition of several companies that provide cybersecurity solutions and Artificial Intelligence technology show that BlackBerry is prepared to roll in the field of technology. Furthermore, its QNX software is used in more than 175 million cars where it provides security to various systems. The fact that BlackBerry is now a player in the emerging industry of automotive cybersecurity supports the earlier observation that BlackBerry’s future is bright.
Palantir
Rapid Growth and Financial Performance
As far as I know, it is a relatively recent company as it went public in September 2020 so it is difficult to say about its history as I do not know it. In terms of rapid growth, it should be mentioned that since the day of its listing, the financial and stock performance of the company has been growing. This was clearly reflected in the price of the shares that, initially, started at just $10 per share and rapidly grew to more than $45 by January 2021. The driving force of such sales peed is probably attributed to the interest of investors in big data and AI techs so many of them see hopes in Palantir. From the most recent financial information, the raise in revenue could be constantly observed where the sales of the company in 2021 amounted to over $1.1 billion which is 40% higher than a year earlier.
Leadership and Visionary Insights
The vision of the company is rooted in the philosophy of one of its co-founders and CEOs, Alex Karp, this is the salient feature that characterizes the style of his leadership. In particular, his vision of “the future where the juxtaposition of data and security becomes all one thing”, probably, predetermines the vector of development of the company. In other words, the philosophy of Karp is reflected in his famous quotation that is often referred to “Software projects are only as valuable as the problems they solve.”
