A trader reacts as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 18, 2020.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Shares of AMTD Digital have soared as much as 18,670% since its July IPO, and the company has no idea why.AMTD Digital is a Chinese tech firm that currently has a market valuation of nearly $150 billion.The company’s parent-company, AMTD Idea Group, soared more than 500% in Tuesday trades.
AMTD Digital stock has soared as much as 18,670% since its mid-July IPO on no apparent news, suggesting that the rally is being driven by the low-float nature of its outstanding shares and overwhelming demand for the stock.
The Hong Kong-based tech firm trades on the New York Stock Exchange and priced its IPO at $7.80 per share, helping it raise $125 million in proceeds. On Tuesday, the stock hit a high of $1,464.06 on volume of just over 100,000 shares, briefly valuing the company at more than $150 billion.
In a statement on Monday, AMTD Digital thanked its investors for the successful completion of its IPO that closed more than two weeks ago. The company also said the trading of its ADS shares are “still undergoing our initial stabilization whereby the underwriters have been granted a green-shoe option.”
That means the underwriters of AMTD Digital’s IPO can exercise an option to purchase 2.4 million shares for $7.80 per share, or about $18.7 million. The underwriters can then book an immediate gain by selling the shares in the open market, assuming its stock price doesn’t drop 99% from current levels between now and August 15. At Tuesday’s high, that green shoe option is worth more than $2.8 billion.
The underwriters that stand to benefit from AMTD Digital’s wild post-IPO surge are AMTD Global Markets Limited, Livermore Holdings Limited, Eddid Securities and Futures Ltd. and Eddid Securities USA Inc, according to a July statement from the company.
Curiously, AMTD Global Markets Limited is a subsidiary of AMTD Digital’s parent company, AMTD Idea Group. Shares of AMTD Idea Group, a Chinese-based financial company, soared more than 500% in Tuesday trades. AMTD Idea Group owns 97.1% of AMTD Digital’s outstanding shares as of July 15, according to a SEC filing.
“To our knowledge, there are no material circumstances, events nor other matters relating to our Company’s business and operating activities since the IPO date,” AMTD Digital said in its Monday statement.
AMTD Digital has a low share float of just 19 million shares. That means when overwhelming demand for the stock occurs, and there are few sellers, the stock price goes vertical. Some of that buying appears to be driven by retail traders. According to data from Fidelity, Tuesday’s top traded stock among its customer base was AMTD Idea Group.
Markets Insider