Exhibit A, according to one prominent investor: a New Jersey sandwich shop with a single store, paltry sales and a market value of just over $100 million.
That recently gave the company a market value — derived from adding up the price of all of its shares — of nearly $120 million.
A number of other struggling stocks, like pandemic-scarred movie theater chain AMC and software maker Blackberry, also were pushed up, likely by members of a Reddit message group in what became known as the “meme stock” rally.
The corporate structures are often called “blank-check” companies because they sell shares to investors before the enterprise actually owns a business, with the promise that corporate managers will use the money from selling shares to make acquisitions.
More recently, commentators have pointed to rising prices of digital artwork sold as bitcoin-like NFTs as the latest sign of a potential bubble.
Bitcoins themselves have also soared, recently climbing above $60,000 for the first time.