Gamestop to $1000. AMC to $100. The Reddit /wallstreetbets crowd has spent the last few weeks hyping up stocks that had been left for dead by many investors — and subjected to short strategies by hedge funds trying to profit from these companies' once seemingly inevitable falls into bankruptcy and possibly liquidation. They've pushed the stocks to unbelievable highs and volatility that then pushed brokerages like Robinhood to the brink of their own solvency.
Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports and recent day-trader aficionado, joined the crowd. By capitalizing on his current fame and fanbase, his Twitter follow count has skyrocketed in recent days. Gapped up, you might say, if you were talking about a stock that had a big and sudden move upwards in price:
According to our data, Portnoy has picked up around 340,000 followers in the last few days. Unfortunately for Portnoy, he claims to have lost around $700,000 chasing meme stocks, and also because of Robinhood's trade restrictions — in fact he said he'd like to see CEO Vlad Tenev "in jail."
Of course, depending on how Portnoy values his Twitter audience, losing $700,000 in exchange for 340,000 new followers could still wind up being a profitable trade.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online, jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings, and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.