- Bed Bath & Beyond plummeted up to 22% Thursday after a major shareholder moved to sell his stake in the meme stock.
- Ryan Cohen's RC Ventures intends to dump the 9.45 million shares it holds, according to an SEC filing.
Bed Bath & Beyond plummeted Thursday after major shareholder Ryan Cohen signaled his intention to dump his entire stake in the domestic retail company.
Cohen's RC Ventures has proposed selling its 9.45 million shares in the company, according to a Form 144 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bed Bath & Beyond fell up to 21.8% below its previous close shortly after the opening bell, before bouncing back slightly to trade at $19.81 having slipped 14.2%.
It's still up by nearly 300% over the past month, having reclaimed its status as a meme stock darling among retail traders. Stocks including Bed Bath & Beyond and AMC Entertainment have rallied in August as members of groups like Wall Street Bets re-enter the market and bet against hedge funds and institutional investors.
Cohen, who also serves as the chairman of fellow meme stock company GameStop, was Bed Bath & Beyond's second-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company has struggled financially even as its stock price has surged, replacing its former chief executive Mark Tritton in June after it missed key earnings targets.
"News that Ryan Cohen may be selling his stake in Bed Bath & Beyond appears to have spooked the meme stock faithful," Capital.com's chief market strategist David Jones said. "Unlike the frenzy of the past— with the likes of GamStop and AMC — Bed Bath traders seem more inclined to follow institutional wisdom than to blindly battle for companies with poor fundamentals."