(Bloomberg) – Avis Budget Group Inc. shares rose 108% to their highest ever level amid a flurry of retail stores after top executives said car rental was a big part of electric vehicle adoption in the US will
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“You will see that in the future we will become much more active in electrical scenarios as the situation develops,” CEO Joe Ferraro told analysts in a conference call on Tuesday.
The stock doubled to $ 357.17 after more than tripling at one point in New York, bringing total earnings for the year to a whopping 858%. The soaring stock price sparked at least 11 volatility trading stops as 30 million shares changed hands – more than 15 times what it saw in the last month.
The morning rally added more than $ 18 billion to the company’s market value at a time that exceeded the $ 30 billion mark. At this level, Avis briefly became the largest constituent of the Russell 2000 Index, beating another meme stock favorite, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. The company closed Tuesday’s session with a $ 20 billion session.
Avis announced no plans to add electric vehicles to its fleet after rival Hertz Global Holdings Inc. announced it would buy 100,000 cars from Tesla Inc. However, Avis executives said that doesn’t mean they aren’t pursuing potential electric vehicle deals.
“The reason you haven’t heard from us publicly is because, for competitive reasons, we are happy to execute our strategy before we announce it,” said Chief Financial Officer Brian Choi on the call.
Hertz shares, meanwhile, contributed to a spectacular meme-like rally sparked by plans to buy Tesla cars. It rose up to 35% on Tuesday before falling to 2.7% as Tesla founder Elon Musk cast doubts on the idea. Even after the withdrawal, Hertz shares have more than doubled since mid-September.
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Tuesday’s surge came when Avis was mentioned on Reddit’s WallStreetBets thread and Stocktwits chat room, along with other retailer favorites.
Mentions of the company’s ticker competed Tuesday at WallStreetBets with Tesla and GameStop Corp., the original meme. It was also the # 1 trending company on Stocktwits.
Short-term interest in Avis is still high and, according to S3 Partners, is at its highest level for at least a year. About 21% of Avis’ free float is kept short, as shown by data from S3 Partners.
The mania grew so bad that TD Ameritrade no longer allowed short selling in Avis, introduced restrictions on custom option spreads, and limited orders for individual short options.
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