Twilio activist investors, GameStop stock: Trending Tickers
Software company Twilio (TWLO) sees a pick up in its shares after activist investor Anson Funds — which holds a stake worth $50 million — pushes for a sale. Despite disruption in leadership and structure, the stock has seen a 30% increase year-to-date.
Additionally, GameStop (GME) stock jumps as Roundhill's meme stock ETF (MEME) is set for liquidation in December.
Yahoo Finance’s Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton take a look at the two trending stocks.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Video Transcript
JOSH LIPTON: All right, let's get some movers here as well. We're going to start with Twilio ending the day higher. It's after news that activist hedge fund Anson Funds is reportedly building up its stake in Twilio. Worth about $50 billion, that's according to the information, the fund reportedly sent a letter to the software company's board, urging it either to sell the entire business or divest from its data and applications unit. So this is courtesy of report in the information, Julie.
The fund's suggestion, listen, also we should know, not only making these suggestions but also seeming to hint here, it could launch a proxy fight if Twilio doesn't act, Twilio, a communication software company, it is up about 30% this year. It's trading around 65. It was around, of course, for 35 back in 2021. Company we know, listen, they have been making some moves under CEO Jeff Lawson to cut costs, layoffs, sold off two business lines. So we'll see where this fight leads.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, we will see where this fight leads. I mean, Twilio has been-- I don't know I feel like it's one of these companies that has been volatile. And I guess the stock chart kind of bears that out in, right. In terms of the perception of the company, it has risen 38% this year, so it's not the classic beaten down name that then an activist jumps in to take a look at. This one has actually done a little bit better here, so.
JOSH LIPTON: At least year to date.
JULIE HYMAN: Yes, at least year to date. Although, I guess, if you look at the longer term, that's not necessarily the case.
JOSH LIPTON: Not as pretty.
JULIE HYMAN: No. We are also watching shares of GameStop. It was jumping today, up 13%. The meme stock getting some attention from investors even as Roundhill's MEME ETF is set to-- recently was set to liquidate in December here. But GameStop kind of caught our eye, was the top trending ticker on Yahoo Finance today. So it also caught investors' eyes. This was the biggest single-day gain since June 13. There's nothing going on that we could see.
JOSH LIPTON: So we can't pin it to a headline.
JULIE HYMAN: You can't pin it-- I mean, it's not unusual that you can't pin it to a headline when it comes to this. It has become more unusual as of late. GameStop hasn't seen this sort of, necessarily, kind of movement. So that's why it caught our eye as well. .
JOSH LIPTON: Right. You see the movie "Dumb Money?" Did you catch the GameStop movie?
JULIE HYMAN: Did I see the movie? No, I haven't seen that yet.
JOSH LIPTON: You haven't?
JULIE HYMAN: No. I'll have to check it out. But the company does report its earnings on December 6th, and that it is interesting sort of as a corollary to that MEME ETF is going to be liquidated. Roundhill brought up that ETF at the height of the craze, or shortly thereafter, trying to capitalize on the retail enthusiasm. But seemingly the retail enthusiasm has sort of died off, so that ETF is going along with it. There's also another one called BUZZ, the VanEck social sentiment ETF, that one hasn't gained that much attention.
JOSH LIPTON: Whenever we talk about I just feel immediately transported back to some time in early 2021. I mean, that was literally everything. I mean, it was everything everyone was talking about. It goes from 18 to nearly 500, then back to 50. So I feel like a few people might have been-- might have lost a few bucks along the way. That's what that move suggests.
