Clover Health Roars to Record as Short Sellers Get Burned
- Shares post biggest gain ever on social media frenzy
- Short bets against stock more than 40% of free float
Chamath Palihapitiya
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Clover Health Inc., a health insurer backed by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, was swept up in meme-stock mania on Tuesday, posting a second day of wild gains as retail investors banded together to punish short-sellers betting against the company.
Clover rallied 86% to close at $22.15 in New York trading after briefly doubling intraday. The gains erased five months of losses in the stock -- which formed part of a broader selloff in Palihapitiya-backed companies -- in just two days. Trading volume in Clover was more than 29 times the three-month daily average on Tuesday, with a record 718 million shares changing hands.