The stock market’s only constant is its unpredictability. You can’t always count on stocks to do what you expect them to do, which is exactly what makes it so fascinating. Let’s take a closer look at some of the stocks that have made unexpected moves in recent years. Whether they suddenly shot up without warning or unexpectedly dropped in value, the following stocks sent shockwaves through the market and those who keep tabs on it daily.
Axon Enterprise
Axon Enterprise (AAXN) used a risky promotion to give their company a boost. Instead of continuing their focus on selling TASERs, Axon switched to body cameras along with cloud storage solutions for the data produced by the cameras. To get things rolling, they offered free body cameras to every U.S. police officer for a year. The promotion tanked their stock to $21, but the risk paid off. After the year-long free trial, orders began to pour in for more cameras and AAXN stock rose to over $40.
Kush Bottles
It’s no surprise that marijuana stocks have been performing well in recent years. With the legalization of marijuana becoming a hot topic in just about every state, and the widespread development of dispensaries, it’s only natural that these stocks continue to rise.
But Kush Bottles (KSHB) is an outlier in a field of hot stocks. Kush Bottles rose more than 120 percent on the market over the course of the year in 2017 and reported revenue of $10.6 million for the second quarter of 2018 alone. Even more surprising is the source of the company’s revenue, which isn’t actually directly tied to marijuana sales. Instead, Kush Bottles specializes in wholesale supplies for dispensaries, including vaporizers and child-resistant containers.
Citigroup
The recession hit the large banks hard, but Citigroup (C) really reached a low point during this financial crisis. In April 2009, the company’s price fell to 97 cents per share. It seemed as though Citigroup was on the brink of shutting down altogether, and few investors thought they’d recover from such a hard hit. But over the last decade, the company was able to recover due to a massive government stimulus. The unthinkable has happened — Citigroup now trades at over $60 and continues to rise.
Zynga
Not all stock surprises have a happy ending. In the case of Zynga (ZNGA), a high earnings forecast that didn’t pan out resulted in a major drop in the company’s stock price. In the second quarter of 2012, Zynga’s price dropped over 40 percent in a single day in after-hours trading. By missing the mark on its financial forecast by such a wide margin, Zynga became a cautionary tale of the stock market.
Though the stock market can certainly produce some great results, there will always be unexpected ups and downs to keep investors on their toes. These companies are great examples of the ways in which certain companies can produce incredibly surprising results when it comes to their stock market values and dramatic changes in performance over a short period of time.
The Taser shift is interesting. It’s a very hard thing for a company to develop a digital business (that’s what their camera business essentially is-they make money on storing the footage, and the software behind it) after they are an established manufacturer. I think their shift has an ethical component too-they shifted from essentially a tool of oppression (Tasers) to one of transparency and openness.
Recently there was an article in The New Yorker (I believe) about this. They pretty much had to add the camera component, because of abuses involving their weapons that were becoming increasingly common. Whatever the motivation, though, IMHO recording interactions between the police and the perps is a good thing.