Wolfspeed (WOLF 0.97%) stock posted substantial gains in Tuesday's trading. There wasn't any new, business-specific news pushing the silicon-carbide specialist's valuation higher, but its share price gained 8.4% today thanks to speculative momentum, chip industry news, and investors gambling on the company's bankruptcy proceedings. The stock had been up as much as 22.9% early in the day's trading.
Wolfspeed announced at the end of June that it had submitted filings for restructuring under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Despite a very risky outlook for the company's stock, its share price is up 273% since its bankruptcy announcement.
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Is Wolfspeed stock a buy?
Wolfspeed stock has been incredibly volatile in recent trading, and it's been prone to large moves on little or no business-specific news. Tech stocks saw bullish momentum today after Nvidia announced that it had received assurances that the U.S. government would greenlight licensing approval needed to sell the company's H20 processors in China. Gains for Nvidia and other AI chip stocks following news about licensing approval for the H20 processors don't suggest any meaningful shift in Wolfspeed's prospects as an investment.
Wolfspeed is a company that's in the early stages of moving through bankruptcy proceedings. Companies that are starting bankruptcy procedures can sometimes see huge valuation moves even in the absence of relevant developments, but the likely outcome is generally unfavorable for investors trying to make ultra-short-term plays at this stage.
Wolfspeed's bankruptcy and restructuring makes it likely that the stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and investors who hold on to shares through the restructuring process will receive only between 3% and 5% of the value of the new company. With these risks in mind, Wolfspeed stock is too shaky to be a good investment right now.
