Robinhood Shares Soar on Wall Street, Rise As High As 80%

Robinhood’s stock is flying again Wednesday, jumping so much that trading was temporarily halted three times in the first half-hour after the market opened, Associated Press (AP) reported.

Photo Insert: Robinhood co-founder Vladimir Tenev

Robinhood Markets was up 28.5% at $60.15, as of 10:47 a.m. Eastern time, accelerating what’s already been a blistering week of gains. At one point the stock was up 80%. It’s a sharp turnaround from the lackluster debut last week when Robinhood’s stock dropped 8.4% from its initial price of $38 on Thursday.

Even ahead of its initial public offering, experts warned that Robinhood’s stock could be primed for a more jagged ride than others on Wall Street because of its popularity among smaller investors.

Robinhood reserved a bigger-than-usual chunk of its IPO shares for smaller investors, which fits with its mission of “democratizing finance.”

The company has introduced a new generation of younger and smaller-pocketed investors to the stock market, thanks to its zero-trading fees and easy-to-use app. But the move also gave fewer shares to big institutional investors, who have more of a reputation for holding onto a stock for the long term.

Robinhood has found support from some big names on Wall Street.

Cathie Wood, a star stock picker who focuses on innovative companies, has bought shares, for example. Her flagship ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund owns nearly 4.9 million shares, putting Robinhood within the fund’s top 30 holdings.

The fund has about $25.5 billion in total assets. Robinhood has created plenty of passion, among users and critics alike, and the polarizing effect has sent its stock on a wild ride in its short time on Wall Street.

After opening at $38 last week, it sank as low as $34.82. It took less than four days to more than double, touching $85 earlier Wednesday morning before paring its gain.

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC