WeWork, The Latest Meme Stock - What's Going On?

WeWork Inc WE stock gained over 35% Friday, maintaining its upward trajectory and triggering speculation of possible meme treatment meted out to other troubled companies like GameStop GME.

The stock price is on a roll since it expressed doubts over its ability to sustain the business.

Also Read: The Apes Just Resurrected WeWork Stock: ‘It Will Go To The Moon’

The r/WallStreetBets community — the “apes” — is once again rallying behind the beleaguered stock. Early 2021 saw the birth of the ‘“meme stock” phenomenon on r/WallStreetBets. 

The community noticed that institutional hedge funds heavily shorted GameStop, so retail traders piled into the stock, triggering a massive short squeeze.

WeWork was founded on the vision of revolutionizing shared workspace, and it seemed poised to disrupt the traditional office setup. Founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, the company’s innovative model involved leasing office buildings, renovating them to create vibrant co-working spaces, and renting them out.

Financial irregularities, leadership crises, and failed IPO attempts led to its dramatic fall.

The co-working space provider reported dismal second-quarter financial results this week.

The Q2 quarterly loss of 21 cents per share missed the consensus estimate of losses of 12 cents. Quarterly revenues of $844.00 million missed the consensus estimate of $850.13 million.

David Tolley has served as interim CEO since Sandeep Mathrani resigned, effective May 26.

The session volume crossed the 63 million mark vs. the average 100-day volume of 34 million.

Price Action: WE shares traded higher by 35% at $0.25 on the last check Friday.