Avis Joins Meme-Stock World and the Street Says Sell: Tech Watch
- Tesla’s halo, short squeeze fuel Avis Budget stock surge
- Car-rental stock has jumped 4,500% from pandemic low of 2020
An Avis Budget rental car office in South San Francisco, California.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Avis Budget Group Inc.’s pledge to expand in electric vehicles wowed Tesla Inc. acolytes and the meme-stock traders who love to embrace once-fallen companies. The pros at Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are another matter.
The shares soared 108% Tuesday to $357.17, prompting Deutsche Bank on Wednesday to lower its rating of Avis, which has the stock symbol CAR, to sell from hold, while JPMorgan cut it two notches, to underweight from overweight. The frenzy began after executives said the car-rental company will play a big role in the adoption of electric vehicles in the U.S., and the rally fed on itself as speculators who had sold the stock short repurchased it to curb their losses.