It’s always a fascinating day on Wall Street when one speculative piece of market coverage demonstrates the power to move a stock by a significant amount. We’ve seen exactly that this afternoon, as a now-deleted blog post from a Seeking Alpha contributor sent the stock of Sphere 3D (NASDAQ:ANY) shooting up. How? By suggesting Elon Musk could be joining the board of the new company that Sphere will form after merging with Gryphon Digital Mining. The simple offering of a theory was all that it took for ANY stock to start rising.
What Happened With ANY Stock
The blog post went live 2:34 p.m. Eastern, and at the same time, ANY stock started to gain. Although shares pulled back from intraday highs, they closed up by 14.5%.
Sphere 3D is expected to finalize its merger with Gryphon before the end of the fourth quarter. Although there is no concrete evidence that Musk would sign on board the company, blogger Ashwagandha Smith argued it is “a real possibility.”
It’s worth noting that the post appears on Seeking Alpha’s blog, a part of the site that publishes posts “not selected, edited or screened” by the venue’s editors. Additionally, Smith had just 228 followers on Seeking Alpha at the time. That said, its news editors also published a brief on it, attributing the price spike to Smith.
What It Means
Even more important to note in this situation is the fact that Musk himself has given no statement on the report or made any mention of either Sphere 3D or Gryphon Digital Mining. While it’s true that he supports the type of eco-friendly mining that the report describes, there are already other companies operating in that space. There is no clear reason to assume that Musk would join the board of one specific company over another.
We shouldn’t forget that prior to the report, Sphere has been moving ahead with a crypto-friendly merger. This type of deal is similar to the merger that we just saw between digital help desk firm Support.com and innovative blockchain miner Greenidge Generational Holdings (NASDAQ:GREE). Like Support, Sphere was also marked as a possible short-squeeze play, another development that is not surprising given the circumstances.
What’s Next for ANY Stock
As of now it’s hard to say for sure, but it’s possible the buzz from the Musk rumors may quickly blow over. The impending merger will be what drives future growth. Of course it would be a huge catalyst if Musk were to join the board, but until more concrete evidence is presented, we can’t even mark that as a real possibility.
Like any hot merger, though, ANY stock is worth watching as the deal finalizes, regardless of who joins the new company’s board.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
