Koss shares skyrocket as meme-stock chatter again swirls around headphone maker

By James Rogers

Koss shares saw their biggest daily percentage gain in over three years amid a frenzy fueled by the return of 'Roaring Kitty' to social media

Shares of Koss Corp. skyrocketed 143.8% on Wednesday, with the headphone maker caught up in a resurgence of interest in meme stocks.

The stock (KOSS) registered its biggest daily percentage gain since Jan. 27, 2021, when it rose 480%. The shares, which closed at $10.63, also registered their highest close since Dec. 10, 2021, when they ended at $13.12.

Koss's stock surged on trading volume of 67.37 million, well above its 65-day average trading volume of just over 854,000. Short interest as a percentage of Koss's public float of shares is 7.7%.

Related: Roaring Kitty cements Chewy's meme-stock status, despite company's improving fundamentals

The company was among the stocks lifted in the recent meme-stock frenzy fueled by the return of influential trader Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," to social media. Meme-stock-related chatter was again swirling around Koss on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, though Gill has not publicly made any posts about Koss.

Gill posted a cryptic image of a dog on X on June 27, sparking speculation that it could be a reference to online pet-products retailer Chewy Inc. (CHWY) The post lifted shares of both Chewy and original meme stock GameStop Corp. (GME) GameStop Chief Executive Ryan Cohen is the co-founder and former CEO of Chewy.

After a two-day winning run, Koss shares ended the June 27 trading session flat, but embarked on another two-day stretch of gains on June 28 and July 1. The stock ended Tuesday's session down 5%.

Related: Koss and BlackBerry rally anew as meme-stock trading frenzy resumes

While not speaking about any specific meme stocks, Dan Raju, the CEO of cloud-based financial-services provider Tradier, said he has been observing the market trends around them during and since the pandemic. The "new flavor of meme stocks," he told MarketWatch, is different from those that emerged during the original meme-stock frenzy in 2021, which sent shares of GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) skyrocketing.

"The new wave of meme stocks have stronger fundamentals than [in] 2020," Raju said. "On this new wave, this meme behavior is not confined to struggling companies.

"For these companies, it's sometimes not good for them to be associated with meme stocks," he added. "The excess volatility based on nonfundamental news flow typically scares away the institutional investors."

Related: Chewy's stock reverses early gains after Roaring Kitty's 6.6% stake is disclosed

In its fourth-quarter results earlier this year, Chewy reported a profit. The retailer again topped analysts' top- and bottom-line estimates in its first-quarter results in May, sending the stock soaring. Chewy also pointed to signs that pet adoptions are up again.

Chewy shares ended Wednesday's session down 3.1%, while GameStop shares closed up 1.6%.

-James Rogers

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07-03-24 1455ET

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