Two fuel cell companies made double-digit gains in trading today. Plug Power, which announced a partnership with French automaker Renault, jumped over 22.3% today. $PLUG, which makes hydrogen fuel cells, was one of last year’s most popular stocks among retail investors. Excitement in $PLUG helped push up shares of FuelCell Energy. $FCEL, which makes commercial-scale fuel cell systems, jumped nearly 21% today.
Today’s weirdest Ripper has us thinking we’ve reached ‘peak retail investor.’ Shares of the animal health and veterinarian business Zomedica jumped 39% today. The reason? Carole Baskin of “Tiger King” promoted the penny stock in a video. The video appears to have been a purchased engagement from Cameo, a website where people can pay for customizable videos from celebrities and influencers. The random investor who paid $300 for this Cameo walked so that $ZOM investors could run.
Quaint e-commerce company Etsy — and one of 2020’s biggest Rippers — took off in trading today. $ETSY, which caters to the DIY and crafting crowd, rose 12% for no attributable reason. However, new consumer reports about the explosion of e-commerce and online shopping in Q4 2020 help support excitement in the stock. $ETSY jumped 250% last year and has already risen 14% since the start of 2021.