Avis, Now Meme Stock, Jumps 108%

Today is Wednesday, November 3, 2021.

Avis, Now Meme Stock, Jumps 108%

Shares of Avis Budget Group (Nasdaq: CAR) increased 108% on Tuesday, a day after the car rental company posted positive earnings.

Numbers: Avis reported earnings per share of $10.74, which was more than double what analysts had projected. Revenue was also strong.

Catalyst: During the earnings call, CEO Joe Ferraro reportedly made an unclear comment about the company being active with electric cars, but didn’t offer specifics. Investors took the bait on Tuesday.

Short Squeeze: Analysts also say that there was likely a “short squeeze” on Tuesday, with investors betting against Avis. That might explain the huge increase.

Stoppage: There was so much buying that the stock was halted several times on Tuesday.

Final Thoughts: Also on Tuesday, Elon Musk said that Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) has not signed the contract with Hertz to sell them electric cars.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG), Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA), Etsy (Nasdaq: ETSY), Fastly (NYSE: FSLY), Fox (Nasdaq: FOXA), Humana (NYSE: HUM), Hyatt Hotels (NYSE: H), Marriott International (Nasdaq: MAR), MetLife (NYSE: MET), MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH), Roku (Nasdaq: ROKU).

Notable IPOs Today: Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CMTG), Delimobil Holding S.A. (NYSE: DMOB), Allbirds, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIRD), TG Venture Acquisition Corp. Units (Nasdaq: TGVCU), Finward Bancorp Common Stock (Nasdaq: FNWD), Blue Star Foods Corp. Common Stock (Nasdaq: BSFC), Sizzle Acquisition Corp. Unit (Nasdaq: SZZLU).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: The Bitter Housewife (StartEngine), PerformLive (Republic), Dokkaebier (Wefunder), Accelerate 3D (Wefunder),

Notable Economic Events Today: ADP employment report (8:15 a.m. ET), Markit services PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), Factory orders (10:00 a.m. ET), Federal Reserve statement (2:00 p.m. ET).

Zillow Ends Home-Buying Business After Earnings Miss

Shares of Zillow (Nasdaq: ZG) plummeted 11.23% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the real estate company posted negative earnings.

Numbers: Zillow was expected to earn a profit of 16 cents per share; instead it reported a loss of 95 cents. Revenue also missed expectations by about 15%.

Background: Zillow Offers, a service where the company predicts the prices of homes and buys them, is the main culprit. The company will shut down that part of the business resulting in a total write-down of $540 million. Zillow will also lay off 2,000 employees.

Quote: "We've determined the unpredictability in forecasting home prices far exceeds what we anticipated and continuing to scale Zillow Offers would result in too much earnings and balance-sheet volatility." - Zillow Group co-founder and CEO Rich Barton.

Final Thoughts: So, predicting the price of homes was a big failure. Hopefully, Zillow can now focus on its core business, which is still strong.

Telehealth Equity Crowdfunding Opportunities

A great way to get exposure to the growing field of telehealth is to invest in a startup that is in the space on an equity crowdfunding platform.

Series C: After previously raising $20 million on SeedInvest (the largest raise on the platform at the time), same-day prescription delivery and telehealth service NowRX announced in October that it is returning to SeedInvest to raise a $73 million Series C round.

Smart Devices: Telebionix, a smart medical devices and sensing technology startup, is currently raising up to $75,000 on Wefunder.

Going International: Telios Care, a telehealth company based in Romania, recently conducted an equity crowdfunding campaign on SeedBlink.

Final Thoughts: Equity crowdfunding can be a good opportunity for investors, but be careful of the potential risks.

Trends to Watch

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