What happened
Shares of MicroVision (MVIS -5.50%) were cratering today ahead of the company's first-quarter results, which will be released at the end of the trading day.
The tech stock fell by as much as 16.5% today and was down by 10.4% as of 1:55 p.m. EDT.
So what
MicroVision has emerged as a so-called meme stock as investors on Reddit's WallStreetBets message board have recently focused their attention on the small tech company.
Image source: Getty Images.
Some investors have bought up shares of MicroVision because a large percentage -- about 20% -- of the company's shares are held short. These meme stock investors are betting that as the share price of MicroVision climbs, investors who are shorting the company will then sell their shares, causing the company's stock to spike even further.
But today's massive share-price slide shows just how quickly meme stock prices can change. Just yesterday, MicroVisions's stock skyrocketed 15%, and the day before that it was falling 19%.
Now what
Investors can likely expect more volatility from MicroVision's stock tomorrow, once the company reports its first-quarter results later today. The company's share price has jumped 247% since the beginning of this year and is up more than 7,000% over the past 12 months. The company's stock will likely respond strongly to any positive or negative news. If it does, at least MicroVision's stock will be moving based on company-related news instead of just on the whims of investors.
