What happened
Popularized by Reddit traders on WallStreetBets early in the week then crushed by brokers' reaction to the WSB phenomenon on Thursday, shares of BlackBerry Limited (BB +1.96%) are taking off again in Friday trading now that some brokers who had limited or banned purchases of heavily shorted stocks yesterday are lifting their bans.
In 11 a.m. trading, BlackBerry stock is up 9.5%.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
With WSB unshackled, it's no great mystery why BlackBerry stock is hot again -- but here's the really curious thing: Some of the folks you'd expect to be pleased by this development are actually missing out on the rally instead. As Reuters reports this morning, three of the software company's top executives, including the chief financial officer and chief marketing officer of the company, sold a combined $1.7 million worth of BlackBerry stock "in the early days of this month's meteoric share price rise."
Whereas BlackBerry stock hit an intraday five-year high of $28.77 per share on Wednesday (and still trades north of $16 right now), some of the people who know BlackBerry's business best headed for the exits and sold their shares for a paltry $12.63 to $13.01 apiece.
Now what
What should investors take away from this news, aside from perhaps a feeling of schadenfreude at the corner-office execs missing out on the rally? Although it is true that investors sell stock for many reasons and that it can be dangerous to make assumptions about why they sell, the fact remains:
On Wednesday, with BlackBerry stock having roughly doubled since the start of the month, the company's top number cruncher and the guy most responsible for knowing how well BlackBerry's products are selling both decided to cut their exposure to their own company's stock. (Indeed, the CFO sold "his entire position in the company," reports Reuters.)
That doesn't speak highly of their confidence in the company or their belief that today's high share prices are sustainable. Caveat investor.
