Tesla CEO Elon Musk is at the Tesla Gigafactory construction site. In Grünheide, near Berlin, September 3, 2020.
Patrick Pleul | images alliance | Getty Images
When Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged his Twitter followers on Thursday to “use Signal”, he was referring to the encrypted messaging app. Some people seem to have misunderstood.
The shares of an obscure and independent company called Signal Advance, which is traded over the counter, rose 527% on Thursday and another 91% on Friday, from 60 cents to $ 7.19.
The Signal Musk was referring to is operated by a non-profit organization and serves as an alternative to text messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Apple’s messaging service. This Signal accessed Twitter on Friday to clarify that it has nothing to do with Signal Advance.
“It’s understandable that people want to invest in Signal’s record growth, but it’s not us,” wrote Signal. “We are an independent 501c3 and our only investment is in your privacy.”
It’s a familiar affair on Wall Street.
In April 2019, on the day that Zoom Video Communications made its long-awaited market debut under the ZM symbol, a Chinese company called Zoom Technologies jumped more than 80% in two hours of trading. The stock gave up most of those gains that day, closing up 10%.
Six years earlier, while investors awaited Twitter’s IPO, Tweeter Home Entertainment Group’s shares rose more than 1,000%.
Signal Advance was founded in Texas under the name Biodyne in 1992 and provided services to medical and legal professionals. The company shifted its focus to the use of technology in healthcare and changed its name to Signal Advance. Little traded shares hit the market in 2014.
The Signal Advance is so small that it does not inform the SEC’s finances. As of March 2019, there were no full-time employees other than CEO Chris Hymel, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Because of the swarm of involuntary investor interests, the company now has a market capitalization of $ 660 million, up from $ 55 million two days ago. Before Thursday, the shares had traded below $ 1 since 2015.
The Signal messaging app, supported by the Signal Technology Foundation, “works entirely with donations,” according to a New Yorker article published in October.
The group had other concerns after Musk’s tweet to his more than 41 million followers. Signal said on Thursday that there were technical problems with the checks because “so many new people are trying to get in”.
Both technical confusion and wild trading in unrelated stocks underscore Musk’s growing influence. On Thursday, he became the richest person in the world thanks to Tesla’s nearly 800% increase in market capitalization last year. On Friday, Tesla became the fifth most valuable public company in the United States, overtaking Facebook.
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