MILWAUKEE — Koss Corporation, the maker of headphones based in Milwaukee, has been dragged into the epic battle being waged on Wall Street between small investors based online and the financial elite over companies thought to be damaged goods.
Koss's shares exploded by 480 percent on Wednesday, and is about $72 per share after hours, as investors based on Reddit bought an astounding number of shares of companies including GameStop and Koss, against the bets made by Wall Street hedge funds hoping that the worth of the companies would drop.
The Redditors' most notable target has been GameStop, but they have also encouraged rapid investment in Koss, Blackberry and AMC Entertainment - whose shares have also surged in the last few days.
Koss Corp has been making audio equipment since the 1950s, credited with inventing the first hi-fi stereos. It has become known for its headphones for the phone-focused consumers of the present day.
The earthquake shaking the stock market this week appears to have started on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, focused on boosting shares of stocks before selling the stocks for a profit. Many of these part-time investors use the Robinhood application to make their trades.
The founder of Citron Research, Andrew Left, had announced his plan to provide five reasons GameStop (GME) stock should fall, as he had 'shorted' or bet that the stock would fall. A self-proclaimed former Goldman Sachs portfolio manager, Will Meade, also shined a light on Koss, CLVS and AMC stocks, writing each stock showed short interest above 35 percent and priced under $10 a share.
That appears to have caught the eye of the subreddit in question.
Koss stock, which was not a golden stock for investors looking to make easy money, also appears to have caught their eye.
Left and his Citron Research, among other hedge funds, have since disinvested from GameStop in face of losing profits due to the Reddit investors. The amateur investors, if they decide to sell before stock prices drop for the companies including Koss, could walk away with a pretty penny.
