Clean Energy Fuels Rises, Caught Up in Meme Stock Trading
Shares of Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) - Get Report rose Friday, as the renewable natural gas provider turned into the latest meme stock favored by Reddit devotees.
On Reddit’s WallStreetBets, mentions of the Newport Beach, Calif., company on Thursday exploded by a factor of nearly seven, according to Quiver Quantitative.
“$CLNE takes gas nobody wants, converts it into transportable fuel, fills tanks full of it, and charges trucks to fill up with it,” one Reddit poster wrote.
Another said, “Should I try to harness the power of Reddit to break the fossil fuel monopoly and put clean, renewable energy in the hands of the masses; or, reheat a couple day old donuts and call it a night?”
The stock recently traded at $9.69, up 6.2%. It has more than doubled (up 148%) in the past six months amid investors' enthusiasm for clean energy.
In April, Clean Energy reached an agreement with Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report to provide low- and negative-carbon renewable natural gas for the Seattle tech and retail company.
The fuel will be provided to Amazon Logistics, the company's shipping and delivery service, at existing Clean Energy fueling stations, as well as at another 19 non-exclusive new or upgraded stations that Clean Energy expects to be built this year.
As part of the agreement, Clean Energy issued to Amazon a warrant to purchase as many as 53.1 million of its common shares. The exercise price of the shares in the warrant is $13.49. The first tranche of 13.2 million shares vested with the execution of the initial agreement.
Investment firm Raymond James wasn’t impressed with the deal, downgrading Clean Energy to underperform from market perform.
