What happened
Shares of Naked Brands (NAKD) climbed 16.4% on Monday, after the swimwear and intimate-apparel maker announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer.
So what
Mark Ziirsen will replace Cheryl Durose as Naked Brands' new CFO. Ziirsen has three decades of experience in financial and operational leadership roles in a broad range of industries, including retail and technology. He will be tasked with shepherding Naked Brands' new online strategy.
"Much of Mark's work has involved guiding high growth companies, which will be instrumental for the rapid acceleration of our e-commerce business and digital transformation," CEO Justin Davis-Rice said in a press release.
Investors bid up Naked Brands' stock price on Monday. Image source: Getty Images.
Interestingly, Davis-Rice said that Ziirsen's corporate strategy and mergers and acquisition expertise will bolster Naked Brands' hunt for "acquisitions of high growth and cash flow positive businesses." Davis-Rice's comments suggest Naked Brands may soon deploy some of the roughly $270 million it raised via share offerings in recent months.
Now what
Naked Brands has become a popular stock among traders on Reddit and other social media sites. That helped to drive its stock price from less than $0.20 on Dec. 31 to as high as $3.40 by Jan. 28. Its shares retreated as the trading frenzy subsided, and they're now down more than 80% from their highs despite today's gains.
Still, Naked Brands sold shares to investors along the way. The company's now cash-rich balance sheet should give it the capital it needs to fund the buildout of its e-commerce platform. And with Ziirsen's hiring, investors appear to be growing more optimistic that Naked Brands' online strategy could prove viable.
