Warren Buffett likes to say that his favorite holding period for a stock is “forever.” However, Buffett mostly owns slow growing blue-chip stocks that pay high dividends such as Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO). While most business schools, investing seminars, and market analysts preach the virtues of buy-and-hold investing, that strategy doesn’t always make sense.
While that approach might work over the long haul, the market is full of volatile stocks that rise and fall quickly. These can net investors hefty sums of money if they time the moves accurately. These securities tend to be of troubled companies, many of which have been targeted by retail investors and treated as meme stocks.
While the risk-reward level is high and losses can quickly accumulate, investors can also achieve big gains from these short-term stocks, many of which can see their share price double in only a few weeks or months. Here are three stocks to buy today and sell tomorrow.
BlackBerry (BB)
Shares of former smartphone maker BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) have been jumping around a lot this year on a series of announcements from the company. In the spring, BlackBerry said that it was undertaking a strategic review of its business and considering all options to try and boost its share price, which is now trading in penny stock territory. Then, in late August, it was reported that the former meme stock was going to be bought by private equity firmVeritas Capital, though no takeover offer has been announced.
Now, BlackBerry has said that it plans to spin-off its Internet of Things (IoT) business.Specifically, BlackBerry is targeting June 2024 to hold an initial public offering (IPO) of its Internet of Things unit. The upcoming IPO will divide BlackBerry into two businesses, one focused on cybersecurity and the other focused on its IoT products and services.
In September, BlackBerry reported its latest financial results, which were predictably bad. The company reported that it lost $42 million in this year’s second quarter as revenue from its IoT business rose 4% but its cybersecurity revenue declined 40% year-over-year.
All of the news and activity has BB stock down 17% over the past six months, but still up 2% year to date. This is a classic buy the rumor, sell the news stock. Investors want to buy and sell shares of this troubled company very fast.
GameStop (GME)
Next we have the ultimate meme stock, video game retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME). This company’s stock continues to be extremely volatile. In the last 12 months, GME stock has risen 169% and then fallen 62%. Since the end of June, the share price has been cut in half.
Oddly, the constant volatility is what seems to attract investors to GameStop, whose shares can spike or plunge on the slightest news about the company. The stock is particularly volatile immediately after GameStop reports its quarterly financial results. The company is next scheduled to report earnings on Dec. 6.
In the meantime, the latest news impacting GME stock is that activist investor and self-proclaimed meme stock king Ryan Cohen has been named the troubled company’s new CEO. GameStop’s share price rose 10% on news at the end of September that Cohen was assuming the CEO title effective immediately. GameStop said that Cohen, who already sits on the company’s board of directors, won’t receive any compensation for his expanded role as CEO, president, and executive chairman.
In June, GME stock plunged 20% when it was announced that former CEO Matthew Furlong had been fired. GameStop provided no reason for Furlong’s firing.
Given the ongoing volatility in GME stock, investors who do buy this stock should be prepared to sell it at a moment’s notice.
Tilray Brands (TLRY)
The entire cannabis sector is in disarray and the stocks of cannabis producers remain erratic. However, investors who are quick on the draw might be able to make some money from beaten down industry leader Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY). The Canadian cannabis producer is betting all its chips on the U.S. market, moving its corporate headquarters to New York City from Toronto earlier this year and announcing in August that it’s buying eight American craft beer brands from brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD). The moves are aimed at positioning Tilray for a time when the U.S. federal government legalizes cannabis nationally, if that time ever comes.
In the meantime, Tilray was hit at the end of September with a very negative short-seller report. In a scathing take down, Kerrisdale Capital accused Tilray of massively and intentionally diluting its own stock. In the report, Kerrisdale said that Tilray “has resorted to ongoing, shameless, and massive dilution to stay alive, even as management compensates itself generously while operating metrics further deteriorate.” Kerrisdale’s report on Tilray concludes by stating: “We believe shareholders are being intentionally misled.”
Between July 6 and Sept. 11 of this year, TLRY stock rose 115%. It has since fallen 44% and now trades for less than $2 per share. Investors who are good at timing events and willing to flip a stock quickly could take advantage of the volatility with Tilray’s share price.
