Wall Street Memes lists two meme stocks that might be on the verge of a short squeeze. Will OCGN and PROG head to the moon in November?
“Meme frenzy” may seem to be hibernating, but it is certainly still alive under the sheets. Retail investors continue to monitor and debate several key stocks on the main discussion boards across the web, and some have started to move in the past few days – think GameStop on November 1, for example.
Driven by popularity, momentum and elevated short interest, Wall Street Memes lists two meme stocks that have “mooning” potential in November.
1. Ocugen, Inc.
Biopharmaceutical company Ocugen, which focuses mainly on gene therapies to cure blindness diseases, had its ticker trending multiple times since the beginning of October.
The company has become a meme focus and nearly doubled in price in the past few trading days.
The most likely catalyst behind the price surge is the anticipated World Health Organization’s approval of COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.
Ocugen is a co-development partner with Bharat Biotech on the drug, and it holds the rights to commercialize Covaxin in North America. Recent stage 3 results showed the drug to be efficient even against the delta variant, which could help in the approval process in these countries.
Meanwhile, the stock is a bear target. OCGN has 56 million shares shorted, representing a whopping 29% of the float. While heavy shorting signals skepticism and caution, it can also put shares on the edge of a short squeeze — if or once massive buying volume takes place.
The eventual vaccine approval could be the catalyst that sparks bullish short-term activity. The binary nature of this trade, however, offers much complexity and risk to both longs and shorts.
2. Progenity
Progenity (PROG) is a biotechnology company that develops molecular testing products in the US. With a market cap of $284 million, the company went public last year at $14 per share. Since then, share price has plummeted to below $1, giving PROG the infamous label of “penny stock”.
In the past month, PROG has spiked around 130%. As short interest on the stock climbed, the volume of comments on major web forums increased as well. Currently, according to Yahoo Finance’s latest data, nearly 24% of the float its being shorted.
Based on the company’s fundamentals, H.C. Wainwright’s Joseph Pantginis recently issued a report on PROG. The analyst started his coverage with a buy rating and 27% upside potential. His bull case is based on the company’s differentiated portfolio and the opportunities that it offers.
"Progenity’ s differentiated R&D pipeline primarily focuses on employing proprietary ingestible device technologies, in tandem with delivery of de-risked FDA approved therapies.”
PROG’s popularity remains high, backed by Reddit forum discussions. Short interest is still elevated, despite the rally last month. This setup could lead the stock to a short squeeze.
