Teetering WeWork Takes on Meme-Stock Flavor as Stock Surges

  • Stock soars 43% after company warned about its finances
  • Bullish options activity jumps, adding to the stock rally
WeWork Says It ‘Doubts’ It Can Stay in Business
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

In what has all the contours of a classic meme-stock rally, WeWork Inc. leaped by a record 43%, after earlier soaring as much as 153%, just days after the co-working space provider warned that it may have difficulty staying solvent.

Thursday’s surge drove the stock as high as $0.33 before closing at $0.18, with a flood of options activity likely amplifying the gains. Volumes in bullish options on the stock exceeded bearish bets by more than 100 times as of 1 p.m. in New York. The three most-active options were $0.50 calls for various expiration dates. Most block trades were done at the ask, signaling aggressive buying.