oann

Tupperware’s meme stock soars on retail frenzy after debt restructuring deal.

ReutersAugust 4, 2023

(Reuters) – Shares of Tupperware Brands surged 53.1% in premarket ‍trading on Friday, after the debt restructuring deal.”>kitchen⁤ storage container⁤ maker finalized

a debt restructuring deal, reinvigorating individual investors’ interest in⁢ the⁤ company.

The Florida-based firm is making an ‌attempt to turn around its business after raising doubts in April about its ability to continue‍ as ‍a going concern as it struggles with slumping sales.

Tupperware said on Thursday it had struck an agreement with its lenders which will ⁢help reduce or reallocate about $150 million of cash interest⁢ and ⁣fees, ⁢and⁣ would give it ‍immediate access to a revolving borrowing capacity of about $21 million.

Widely recognized ‍for its bright-colored plastic airtight⁢ containers, the company had recently caught retail traders’ attention, which has helped drive a more than 449% share surge over the ⁢past ⁢three weeks.

Tupperware was the fourth most touted stock on investors-focused social media, stocktwits.com on Friday.

The share gains were reminiscent of eye-watering rallies for “meme stocks” including AMC and GameStop, where ⁢retail investors would band together on social media and typically focus their speculative bets ⁣on companies that were financially struggling and had high short interest.

Analytics firm Ortex estimated 30.8% of Tupperware’s publicly available shares were shorted. Bearish investors have lost $33 million on paper in the past three weeks, taking their ⁤year-to-date losses to $15.4 million.

Measured ⁣by number of trades,⁢ Tupperware was the second‍ most actively traded single stock by retail traders over the past week, Peng Cheng, strategist at J.P.Morgan, wrote in a note late Wednesday.

Tupperware held⁤ a market value of $156.56 million as of Thursday’s close, after losing about 63% off its value over the ⁤past 12 months.

Other active meme stocks ⁣over the past week include Yellow and Nio Inc, Cheng said.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)