Shares of Wag! Group (NASDAQ:PET) stock are soaring higher following a disclosure of ownership from ACME Capital’s Scott Stanford. Wag! operates as a pet marketplace that provides services such as pet-sitting, dog walking, pet healthcare and more.
Shares of PET stock began trading on the Nasdaq on Aug. 10 following a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with CHW Acquisition. Shares opened at $7.70. The merger was approved on July 29 and was valued at an enterprise value of $350 million.
Wag! currently boasts more than 400,000 caregivers on its platform in more than 5,300 cities across the U.S. Furthermore, more than 12 million services have been completed through its proprietary marketplace.
Meanwhile, shares of PET are gaining recognition on social media. On Stocktwits, mentions of the PET ticker have increased by over 75%. Barron’s reports that the company has 128,290 shares sold short, equivalent to 3.31% of the public float. The low short interest does not seem to be enough to drive a significant short squeeze.
With that in mind, let’s get into the details of Stanford’s ownership.
Scott Stanford Bets Big on PET Stock
Stanford has served as a director for Wag! since 2017. As of Aug. 9, he owned 5.34 million shares of PET through SherpaVentures Fund, a subsidiary of ACME. The shares are equivalent to a massive 14.1% stake.
Stanford has more than 25 years of investing experience and founded ACME in 2018. Before that, he worked at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) for 12 years and advised $80 billion of equity and debt transactions. His past investments include Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB), Palantir (NYSE:PLTR) and Uber (NYSE:UBER).
Wag! released its Q2 earnings results on Aug. 16. Revenue tallied in at $12.8 million, up an impressive 256% year-over-year (YOY). Additionally, gross bookings rose to $22 million, up 124% YOY. However, the company remains unprofitable, although profitability has trended up in the past year. For the quarter, Wag! reported a net loss of $1.1 million, up from a loss of $2.4 million a year ago. As of June 30, the company had a total of 387,000 platform participants.
CEO Garrett Smallwood added, “We believe we are just getting started in an industry that has no signs of slowing down and remain laser-focused on growth, our path to profitability, and providing an unparalleled user experience, all working towards delivering long term shareholder value.”
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (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.
