Genius Brands International, a children’s media company, has seen its stock skyrocket an incredible 2,000% in the past month. But upon news of a stock sale on Thursday, the company lost a winning streak with investors.
The media company produces and markets animated children’s shows and other brands, including Rainbow Rangers on Nick Jr., Llama Llama on Netflix, and Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten, voiced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, soon on Amazon Prime and Alibaba.
The company’s stock has seen a massive surge since May 1, and volume has been high amid a flurry of announcements. One catalyst? In May, Genius Brands said on June 15 it would be launching a network called Kartoon Channel, which CEO Andy Heyward described in a letter to shareholders as “‘Netflix for kids,’ except it is free,” that would be available on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon, and other platforms. The company also announced it would be selling toys for its show Rainbow Rangers, developed with Mattel, at Walmart this summer.
The Beverly Hills–based company has also announced four stock sales in May (including a $9 million direct offering to shareholders on May 18). Though the stock jumped 97% from Tuesday’s close to Wednesday, it broke its bullish streak Thursday after Genius Brands announced the company had registered a sale of up to 60.1 million shares by stockholders. By the close on Thursday the stock was down over 13%, closing at $6.86 per share.
“We are not selling any securities in this offering, and we will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock by the selling stockholders,” Genius Brands said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
While investors have obviously responded well to the news releases in the past month, the stock has become a favorite among short-sellers—and has also drawn the ire of short-seller Citron Research, which tweeted Thursday, predicting the stock would go to “$1…fast.”
The stock had, until recently, been out of compliance with the Nasdaq’s rule for stocks to trade at no less than $1 per share, trading at $0.31 on May 1, but announced on May 28 that it had regained compliance—narrowly avoiding being delisted—by trading above $1 for 10 days straight.
It seems some investors, at least, weren’t too happy to have missed the rally on the way up.
Genius Brands’ stock trading was halted on the Nasdaq numerous times on Wednesday and Thursday amid volatility.
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