Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. have been eliminated, marking the latest chapter in the demise of the onetime home-goods behemoth and meme-stock darling.
In a filing Friday, Bed Bath & Beyond
BBBYQ,
said that its shares are canceled, and “have no value” as the company’s bankruptcy plan takes effect. Bed Bath & Beyond also said that it is undergoing “an orderly wind-down and liquidation process.”
Users on social media reacted to the announcement, emphasizing that it marked the end of the road for a stock that has attracted meme-like chatter even in its final throes.
“And goodbye to your $BBBYQ shares,” tweeted @Expired1337. “R.I.P $BBBYQ.”
“I am sorry that $BBBYQ holders lost everything with zero hope of getting anything back,” tweeted @MichaelNaussCMT. “BUT this is a great time to look at how you invest and the people you listen to.”
“Real investors have a theory and a plan they know when they are wrong and move on quickly,” @MichaelNaussCMT added, urging people to beware “social media eco [sic] chambers.”
“So, ICYMI, $BBBYQ share have just been ‘extinguished’. They’re cancelled, worthless, and untradeable,” tweeted @MyTsla. “To all the bagholders who have been giving me and others grief for last 6 months for saying this was going to happen and inevitable. . . ‘You’re welcome’.”
Related: It’s the end of the road for shares of Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy earlier this year came after a troubled few years marked by strategic missteps, cash burn, challenging underlying business trends and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nonetheless, shares of the embattled retailer skyrocketed last year, driven by the Wall Street Bets crowd on Reddit.
In a last-gasp bid to stave off bankruptcy, Bed Bath & Beyond announced equity offerings in its final months this year, raising more than $400 million.
Related: Why investors gamble on shares of bankrupt companies — Bed Bath & Beyond, for example
But the beleaguered company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April and was subsequently delisted from the Nasdaq exchange. Even with liquidation sales under way at hundreds of stores, the stock continued to attract attention while trading over the counter. Activist investor Ryan Cohen, for example, was still mentioned in social-media chatter about Bed Bath & Beyond despite cashing out his entire stake in the company last year.
In June, a judge approved Overstock.com Inc.’s
OSTK,
$21.5 million bid to buy Bed Bath & Beyond’s assets. Overstock.com completed its rebrand of Bed Bath & Beyond in early September.
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