The stock traded at a record $85 at 9:46 a.m. in New York, extending gains for a fourth-straight session and triggering at least two trading halts. The frenzied share buying pushed the company’s market value to $65 billion from $29.1 billion at its debut on Nasdaq last week.
BloombergRetail investors’ participation took off in the past couple of sessions after a lukewarm reception. They bought a net $19.4 million worth of Robinhood shares on Tuesday to make it the sixth-most-purchased stock and 11th-most-traded security on retail platforms, according to data compiled by Vanda Securities Pte.
Total retail volume on Tuesday surged about 10-fold from the previous day, the data show. In the first half hour of Wednesday’s session about 47 million shares changed hands, more than seven-times what was seen in recent days.
BloombergTrader chatrooms, such as those on StockTwits, and Twitter feeds were aflame with mentions of Robinhood’s surge. Users compared the surge to the massive rallies staged by so-called meme stocks like GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. earlier this year.
The retail investors trading boost came alongside Ark Investment Management’s move to increase stake in the company. Ark Fintech Innovation ETF bought 89,622 Robinhood shares in the previous session as they surged 24 per cent to close at $46.80 apiece.
