The Robinhood crowd has a new favorite speculative stock: Eastman Kodak.
In the last 24 hours, more than 20,000 users have added the shares to their portfolio, making them the most popular action in the commercial application favored by the millennium according to Robintrack data, which tracks user activity but is not affiliated with the company. .
The photography pioneer’s shares soared more than 500% at one point on Wednesday after the United States government on Tuesday awarded the company a $ 765 million loan to produce pharmaceutical components in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The shares were repeatedly halted for volatility during Wednesday’s session. The stock last climbed 385%, trading around $ 38 after earlier rising to a session high of $ 60.
Wednesday’s spike follows a gain of over 200% on Tuesday, driving the action for a gain of more than 2,000% for the week. The company’s valuation is now above $ 1 billion. Before Tuesday’s announcement, the company was valued at $ 115 million.
“Every time a stock has this big move, it will get attention, especially one that was a household name,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. “However, people have to be careful here … there have been a series of trade stops today. Caution should be the key word,” he added.
MarketRebellion co-founder Pete Najarian said Wednesday’s trading volume in action was “outrageous” compared to usual activity. He said 122 million shares have already been traded on Wednesday, after 272 million shares exchanged hands on Tuesday. This compares to the previous daily average trading volume of 125,000.
He also noted that the stock is among the top five in terms of volume in the options market, with activity 6,000% above normal.
Retail investors have been a big part of the rally that has seen the S&P 500 bounce 48% from its March low. According to Robintrack’s data, these investors also frequently accumulate in more speculative areas of the market, including names like Nikola, Plug Power, and Virgin Galactic.
Tesla is another popular name in the app. Earlier this month, for example, almost 50,000 accounts added stock in the span of just 24 hours. The electric vehicle company is currently the eighth most popular stake, according to Robintrack.
Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012 when consumers switched to digital cameras.
However, this is not Kodak’s first foray into the pharmaceutical industry. The company previously participated in the production of over-the-counter medications, before selling the unit to SmithKline Beecham, which later became GlaxoSmithKline, in 1994.
– CNBC’s Yun Li contributed reporting.
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