Genius Group (NYSEMKT:GNS) stock has skyrocketed more than 500% in the past five trading days following the company’s announcement that it will create an “Illegal Trading Task Force” to investigate market manipulation and naked short selling. This news comes after two law firms allegedly found proof of such manipulation:
“[C]ertain individuals and/or companies appear to have sold (but not delivered) a significant amount of the Company’s ordinary shares, as part of a market manipulation scheme seeking to artificially depress the price of the Company’s ordinary shares.”
CEO Roger Hamilton has taken it upon himself to lead the charge, announcing on Twitter that he will host a livestream today to discuss the situation. Other executives at the event will include Creatd (OTCMKTS:CRTD) CEO Jeremy Frommer and former Torchlight Energy Resources CEO John Brda.
GNS Stock: Genius Goes All in Against Naked Short Sellers
According to Fintel, a total of 569,813 shares failed to be delivered during December. Interestingly enough, almost all of the fails-to-deliver occurred on Dec. 2. A total of 551,011 shares of GNS stock failed to be delivered on that day. Additionally, Barron’s notes that Genius’ short interest as a percentage of float as of Dec. 30 was a minuscule 0.22%, which is equivalent to just 23,640 shares.
Meanwhile, Genius also released its 2023 guidance this morning. The company expects annual revenue to tally in between $48 million and $52 million. Using the midpoints, that implies 37% growth from the 2022 pro forma guidance of between $35 million and $38 million. Furthermore, Genius expects its total number of users to jump to between 5.7 million and 6 million in 2023. That implies a 30% increase from the 2022 guidance of between 4.4 million and 4.6 million users.
CEO Roger Hamilton said the following about the 2023 guidance:
“In 2023 we are expecting Genius Group to continue our strong growth trajectory, and we are focused on managing our costs and achieving positive EBITDA. We have a strong management team in place, our integration process of our five acquisitions in 2022 is underway, and we are looking forward to a successful 2023.”
Hamilton believes that the current economic downturn will not pose any problems for Genius. He characterizes the company as “counter-cyclical,” adding that people seek out ways to improve their education despite “challenging economic times.”
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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.
