Well, we can’t say it wasn’t fun. Thanks to the traders who conspire on the Reddit message boards, many penny stocks that investors had given up on saw huge increases in their share price in recent months. Reddit penny stocks, which had languished for years, suddenly saw their share price jump 500% or more.
For brief moments, these penny stocks were given new life and generated buzz in the investing world. But now, the traders have moved on from many of the penny stocks they pumped up to silly levels and then dropped like a hot potato.
The attention from retail traders was fleeting and brief. And as the crowds move on to find new targets, we take a moment to look at four Reddit penny stocks whose time has now passed. R.I.P.
- Nokia (NYSE:NOK)
- Sundial Growers (NASDAQ:SNDL)
- Zomedica (NYSEAMERICAN:ZOM)
- Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment (NASDAQ:HOFV)
Reddit Penny Stocks: Nokia (NOK)
Nokia is one of those once mighty stocks that today languishes as a penny stock. Back in its late 1990s heyday, NOK stock traded at $60 a share. But the company’s stock has not traded at those lofty heights since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.
Over the past 20 years, Nokia’s stock has gotten weaker and weaker to the point where it now looks anemic at just $4.80 a share. And while there continue to be analysts and investors who call for a return to glory for the Finnish telecommunications company, it all sounds like wishful thinking at this point.
Even the Reddit traders who enjoy reviving stocks that have been left for dead only managed to push NOK stock up about 45% to $6.55 a share at the end of January before it fell back under the $5 penny stock threshold. And while Nokia, a once leading cell-phone manufacturer, continues to tout its new focus on telecommunications equipment that enables 5G wireless networks, it rings a bit hollow. Especially with leading analysts criticizing the company for its fading market share and weak competitive position in the global race to roll out 5G wireless.
NOK stock is not worth investors’ time.
Sundial Growers (SNDL)
Is anyone else sick of Canadian cannabis producer Sundial Growers? The company’s stock is currently trading in the doldrums at just 71 cents a share and faces a constant threat of being delisted by the Nasdaq exchange for failing to maintain its share price above $1.
And while SNDL stock has been a favorite pump-and-dump target of investors who congregate on Reddit, the reality is that the tiny cannabis company does not have much to recommend it.
Sundial’s latest Hail Mary pass is to focus on the burgeoning edible cannabis market. With no guarantee of success, Sundial Growers looks destined to continue struggling to remain a publicly traded company. Reddit traders pushed SNDL stock up 607% to an all-time high of $3.96 in February, but the share price has since crashed back down and is heading towards its 52-week low of 14 cents.
In its most recent quarterly earnings, released on March 17, Sundial Growers posted a loss of 5.6 million CAD ($4.6 million), which was 28% worse than the 4.4 million CAD it lost in the previous quarter.
Sundial Growers stock appears to be running on borrowed time.
Reddit Penny Stocks: Zomedica (ZOM)
One halfway decent idea does necessarily translate into a successful animal health company. This is the case with Zomedica, a start-up based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that has developed a technology it claims can simplify the diagnosis of various diseases in cats and dogs. The company also claims that it is running headlong into a market opportunity that could be worth $5 billion over the next five years.
While all that sounds exciting, Zomedica, to date, has sold its proprietary Truforma diagnostic platform to one animal hospital in New York state. This lack of progress helps to explain why ZOM stock is currently worth 83 cents.
ZOM stock did enjoy a few moments in the sun earlier this year courtesy of the Reddit mob who catapulted the share price 671% higher to a peak of $2.91. The stock has since fizzled as the Reddit traders moved onto other targets and investors went back to judging the company and its stock based on fundamentals.
Investors also didn’t like that the company raised an additional $200 million through a secondary share offering in mid-February during the Reddit feeding frenzy. The company has said it plans to use the proceeds from the stock sale to grow its sales team. Here’s hoping that’s the case.
Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment (HOFV)
Football is the most popular sport in America, and people who love it, sure do love it a lot. The National Football League generated $15.26 billion in revenue in 2019 prior to the global pandemic. The NFL revenue generated in 2019 was up 256% from $4.28 billion earned in 2001.
Football fans are dedicated enough that they will make pilgrimages to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, also known as “football heaven.” However, growing and expanding the popularity of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and adjacent Hall of Fame Village is not easy. And that is the challenge confronting Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment.
The global pandemic aside, Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment has had to get creative when it comes to growing its business and revenue. The company has announced a new fantasy football league that it hopes will attract some interest and is also moving into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with plans to develop what it calls “digital trading cards” focused on professional football players. While NFTs marketed as “digital art” have sold for millions of dollars, the sector remains highly speculative and full of risk.
So far, the new ventures have not helped HOFV stock. The company’s share price rocketed 633% higher to $12.31 as Reddit traders pounced on its NFT announcement. Sadly, the bounce higher was short-lived and the stock is now trading at $3.41 per share.
The company is no doubt hoping that tourists return to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
