Business

Just over five years ago jbs and its then chief executive, Joesley Batista, embodied everything that was wrong with Brazilian business. Mr Batista, son of the meat giant’s eponymous founder, José Batista Sobrinho, was fleeing Brazilian prosecutors, his Italian-made yacht Why Not? in tow, over his role in a gargantuan bribery scandal. (He was eventually caught.) jbs was fending off accusations of selling dodgy meat and razing the Amazon to raise cattle (both of which it denies). Investors and customers stampeded out. “It took a lot of work to make sure what happened in the past didn’t happen again,” says Gilberto Tomazoni, who became the first non-Batista ceo in 2018. His efforts to rebuild jbs’s image—and investors’ trust—are paying off. On his watch its market value has nearly doubled, to $14bn. Last year it sold $67bn-worth of packaged food, more than any rival (see chart). On August 11th it reported revenues of 92bn reais ($19bn) in the second quarter, up by 7.7% year on year. Under Mr Tomazoni, jbs has “simplified and consolidated its ownership structure, making it more transparent to outsider investors,” explains Paulo Terra of fgv, a business school in São Paulo. It has drilled its 250,000 employees in compliance. It has also restructured its debt, selling off billions in assets to pay off creditors. That allowed it to go shopping. In 2021 jbs bought an American smoked-meat processor, an Australian hog breeder and an Italian sausage-maker. It is angling for a share of the seafood business, swallowing sellers of plant-based protein and gobbling up startups developing lab-grown meat. Geographical diversification has made the company more resilient. It controls a quarter of beef processing in America, and last year benefited from a combination of low live-cattle prices and a hunger for beef. Now that inflation has made pricey meat less appetising to Americans, dragging jbs’s beef sales there down by 4.6% year on year, it can lean more on growth in Australia and Brazil. At home in particular, a wider product range, which includes cheaper pork, poultry and fish, has helped it at a time when less diversified competitors struggle with rising prices of feed.The whiff of scandal will continue to scare off some investors. Wesley, nephew of Joesley, was recently made the global president of operations. Joesley and his brother, both of whom spent time behind bars on charges of corruption, remain a powerful force. The family’s holding company, j&f, retains a 42% stake. Some of their past deals remain under scrutiny. In America, accusations of price-fixing and worries about workers’ welfare have made meatpackers the focus of congressional probes. Criticism of its links to deforestation in the Amazon has pressed jbs to declare sustainability its “core business strategy” and to pledge to emit no net carbon by 2040. Humankind is “eating the planet”, admits Mr Tomazoni, so it needs to produce food in a new way. jbs may find it increasingly hard to sustain rapid growth. Even as sales rose, net profit declined last quarter, by 10% year on year, as drought shrank grazing lands and the cost of animal feed spiralled. Weakening demand in America will continue to squeeze profit margins in beef and pork. So will a slowdown in China, a smaller but faster-growing beef market where the middle class is eating more beef. jbs’s share price is down by 17% since its recent peak in April. Having whetted investors’ appetites, Mr Tomazoni will need to keep working hard in order to keep them sated. ■For more expert analysis of the biggest stories in economics, business and markets, sign up to Money Talks, our weekly newsletter. More

If the recession debate seems a bit confusing to you, you’re not the only one.
Gross domestic product has declined in back-to-back quarters this year, which is a common signal to market watchers of a recession. But even top experts are debating whether that fact in the current economy amounts to the “R” word this time.

The National Bureau of Economic Research is responsible for making the official call on whether or not the U.S. economy is in a recession, and it hasn’t made that decision quite yet.
But does it even matter? How would a recession impact you?
Watch this video, as CNBC’s Emily Lorsch breaks it all down.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Kohl’s said inflation has pressured its middle-income customers.
The retailer cut its forecast for sales and profit.
Kohl’s quarterly results topped analysts’ lowered expectations.

People walk near a Kohl’s department store entranceway on June 07, 2022 in Doral, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Kohl’s on Thursday again slashed its financial forecast for the year, saying its middle-income customers have been particularly pressured by higher inflation, putting a damper on sales of apparel, shoes and other discretionary items.
The retailer said shoppers are making fewer trips to stores, spending less money per transaction and opting more for Kohl’s less-expensive private brands.

Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass said in a statement that the company is adjusting its business plans and taking actions to reduce inventory and trim expenses “to account for a softer demand outlook.”
Shares of Kohl’s fell in premarket trading, even after the company beat analysts’ lowered expectations for its fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue, as investors were more focused on future guidance.
Kohl’s now sees its net sales in fiscal 2022 down 5% to 6%, compared with a prior range of flat to up 1% from year-ago levels. It also now expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.80 and $3.20, compared with earlier guidance of $6.45 to $6.85.
The bleak guidance from Kohl’s follows the company in late June terminating talks to sell its business to The Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group, as the retail environment deteriorated during the bidding process. For months, Gass and her team faced growing pressure from activist investors to pursue a sale of the company.
Kohl’s at the time cited a difficult financing and retail environment that formed obstacles to reaching an “acceptable and fully executable agreement.”

The news from Kohl’s also comes the same week that Walmart and Target both reiterated their full-year forecasts even as their profits are pressured.
Walmart said it saw more higher- and middle-income consumers visiting its shops in search of discounted items, helping its overall performance. Target’s earnings, however, were weighed down by its efforts to clear through excess merchandise at steep markdowns before the holiday season.
Kohl’s inventory levels in the latest quarter ballooned 48% compared with a year earlier due to lower sales. The company also said this increase stemmed from its recent investments in beauty for its Sephora partnership and its strategy to pack and hold more goods.
Here’s how Kohl’s did in its second quarter ended July 30 compared with what analysts were anticipating, based on Refinitiv estimates:

Earnings per share: $1.11 adjusted vs. $1.03 expected
Revenue: $4.09 billion vs. $3.85 billion expected

Kohl’s net income for the three-month period plummeted to $143 million, or $1.11 per share, from $382 million, or $2.48 a share, a year earlier.
Sales fell 8.1% to $4.09 billion from $4.45 billion a year earlier.
Same-store sales, which track revenue at Kohl’s stores open for at least 12 months, dropped 7.7%.
“While 2022 has turned out to be more challenging than initially expected, Kohl’s remains a financially strong company,” said Gass.
The company said Thursday that it has entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to buy back about $500 million of its common stock.
Kohl’s also said it stands by its previously announced quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents a share, payable to shareholders Sept. 21.
Kohl’s shares have fallen about 31% so far this year, as of Wednesday’s market close.
Correction: Kohl’s sales fell 8.1% to $4.09 billion from $4.45 billion a year earlier. An earlier version misstated the percentage.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Tips for wait staff and cashiers haven’t taken a hit despite inflation, according to new data.
Aggregated sales data from Toast showed people tipped an average of 19.6% at full-service eateries and 16.9% at quick-service restaurants during the second quarter.
The cost for food away from home rose 7.6% over the 12 months ended in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Chef Alessandro Pirozzi, from Alessa by Chef Pirozzi, talks to customers at an outside table at the Promenade on Forest in Laguna Beach, CA on Wednesday, January 13, 2021.
Paul Bersebach | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Even as restaurants and fast-food chains hike menu prices, customers aren’t pulling back on tips for wait staffs and cashiers, according to a new report.
Diners tipped an average of 19.6% at full-service restaurants and 16.9% at quick-service eateries during the second quarter, which was roughly in line with a year ago, according to sales data from software provider Toast. In-person diners typically were more generous, tipping an average of 19.7%, according to the report. Delivery or takeout customers tipped an average of 14.5%.

The average tip amount rose by nearly 10% compared with the year-ago period − slightly more than how much restaurant menu prices have climbed over the last year, Toast said. The cost for food away from home rose 7.6% over the 12 months ended in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Even though there’s some anecdotal feedback about whether inflation is impacting the rate at which people are tipping, we don’t see that in our data,” Toast co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Aman Narang told CNBC.
Other payment software providers have reported that restaurant tips have fallen after climbing earlier in the Covid pandemic. For example, Toast’s rival Square found that the average tip at quick-service restaurants fell from 17.2% to 15.2% from March 2021 to the end of February, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Both Toast’s and Square’s software can be customized to prompt customers to tip at different levels, like 10%, 15% or 20% for a full-service restaurant or $1, $2 or $3 at a coffee shop.
“Certainly our technology is an enabler,” Narang said.

As inflation pressures household budgets, restaurant chains including McDonald’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill have reported seeing lower-income customers spend less money at their locations and higher-income consumers visit more frequently. Others, like Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin’ Brands, have said diners haven’t changed their spending habits — or that they’ve even shown a willingness to pay for more expensive options.
Toast compiles its quarterly report on restaurant trends by crunching data gathered from the roughly 68,000 restaurants that use its software. Its customers range from independent eateries to midsize regional chains.
The report also said that full-service restaurant sales bounced back to the pre-pandemic levels for the first time in the second quarter. Sit-down eateries were hit hardest by the crisis as consumers cooked more of their meals at home or ordered through fast-food drive-thru lanes instead.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The case of a young adult catching polio in a New York City suburb this summer set off alarm bells among public health officials.
Despite a school polio vaccine mandate, childhood immunization against polio has dropped in some communities in recent years.
“This is a wake-up call that we have to fix this problem with our vaccination levels,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, director of pediatric infectious disease at NYU Langone Health.

Nurse Lydia Fulton prepares to administer the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as well as a vaccine used to help prevent the diseases of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and polio at Children’s Primary Care Clinic in Minneapolis, MN.
Courtney Perry | The Washington Post | Getty Images

The childhood polio vaccination rate is as low as 37% in some communities in the New York City metro area, despite a vaccine mandate, increasing the risk of an outbreak as the virus circulates locally for the first time in decades.
Polio vaccination is mandatory in New York for all kids attending day care and K-12 schools, regardless of whether they are public, private or have a religious affiliation.

There are no exemptions to New York state’s vaccine mandate for reasons of religion or personal belief. Exemptions are only provided when a child truly has a medical condition that would prevent the child from receiving a vaccine.
Despite this mandate, the childhood vaccination rate against polio has dropped in some communities. In Rockland County, a New York City suburban area, the vaccination rate for children under age 2 dropped from 67% in 2020 to about 60% in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In some areas of the county, only 37% of kids in this age group are up to date on their polio vaccine.
Children should receive four doses: one at 2 months, a second at 4 months, a third at 6 through 18 months, and a fourth between 4 and 6 years old, according to the CDC.
Overall, the polio vaccination rate in New York state for 2-year-olds is about 79%, according to health department data. Nearly 93% of children ages 2 and under were vaccinated against polio in the U.S., according to a CDC survey published in October 2021.
But the case of a young adult catching polio in Rockland County this summer set off alarm bells among public health officials. Sewage samples collected since May in Rockland County, Orange County and New York City have tested positive for polio, strongly indicating that the virus has been circulating in communities in the metropolitan area for months.

The case of the Rockland County adult is only the second instance of the virus that causes polio transmitting locally in the U.S. since 1979, according to the CDC. New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett has called the wastewater findings alarming, and the CDC has warned that the virus poses an ongoing risk to people who are not vaccinated.
Every single case of polio represents a public health emergency, according to the CDC.
“This is a wake-up call that we have to fix this problem with our vaccination levels, because I’ve never seen a child on an iron lung and I don’t want to,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, director of pediatric infectious disease at NYU Langone Health.
New York state previously had a religious exemption from its school vaccine mandates, which led to a drop in immunization, according to Ratner. This exemption was abolished in 2019 after declining vaccination rates led to a measles outbreak. But the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 caused school closures and disruptions to health-care providers that resulted in a drop in polio vaccine administration, according to the CDC.
“Even once people started going back to the doctor, because a lot of schools were remote, places were not enforcing vaccine mandates. So you’ve got this cohort of kids who may still be under-immunized,” Ratner said.
Ratner said there is only one way to prevent further cases of polio: “Getting vaccinated — that is the solution to this problem.”
The Rockland County Health Department launched a campaign to help close the vaccination gap in late July, but the CDC said not enough doses have been administered to meaningfully increase vaccination coverage in the county.
Two doses of the polio vaccine are at least 90% effective at preventing paralysis from the virus, and three doses are 99% to 100% effective, according to the CDC.

What is polio?

Poliovirus — which can cause the disease called poliomyelitis, or polio — is a devastating, highly contagious virus that struck fear into parents’ hearts before the vaccines became available in the 1950s. More than 35,000 people in the U.S. became disabled from polio every year on average in the late 1940s. There is no cure for polio.
The virus can infect a person’s spinal cord, leading to permanent paralysis of the arms and legs. In some cases, polio is fatal because it paralyzes muscles needed to breathe and swallow. Most people who catch the virus do not develop symptoms, but they can still spread the virus to others and make them sick.
The virus, which lives in the intestines and throat, spreads through what physicians call the fecal-oral route. Young children are at particular risk, from putting hands, toys or other objects contaminated with feces in their mouth. The virus can also spread through respiratory droplets when a person sneezes or coughs, though this is less common, according to the CDC.
A successful vaccination campaign dramatically reduced cases of polio paralysis from more than 15,000 annually in the early 1950s to fewer than 10 in the 1970s. Since 1979, not a single case of polio has originated in the U.S.
“We got to this point in the U.S. with a tremendous amount of effort. It is sad to see us backsliding with this,” Ratner said.
Globally, two of three naturally occurring strains of poliovirus have been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization. But travelers have introduced the virus into the U.S. on occasion, and the strain that is now circulating in the New York City area almost certainly originated abroad.
The strain the Rockland County adult caught is linked to a weakened form of the virus used in the oral polio vaccine. The U.S. stopped using this vaccine more than 20 years ago, which means someone who was vaccinated outside the country introduced the virus into the U.S. The New York wastewater samples are genetically linked to positive sewage samples in Israel and the United Kingdom.
The oral vaccine uses a weakened virus that can still replicate in the human body and in rare instances the strain can revert to a type that attacks the nervous system. When this happens, a person recently immunized with the oral vaccine can infect an unvaccinated individual which can potentially result in paralysis.
“That’s one of the reasons we don’t use the oral polio vaccine, because there is always a risk of transmission, especially to people who are immunocompromised or not vaccinated,” said Dr. Waleed Javaid, a hospital epidemiologist at Mount Sinai in New York City. The oral vaccine is used in some countries because it’s effective, cheap, easy to administer and is normally safe.
The U.S. uses a polio vaccine administered as a series of shots in which the virus strain is inactivated so it cannot replicate, spread or cause disease.
The polio vaccine likely protects people for years after the primary vaccination series, though the exact duration of protection is unknown, according to the CDC. Adults vaccinated as children but who are at higher risk for polio exposure can receive one booster. Javaid said anyone who has concerns, such as people with weak immune systems, should consult their primary care physician and find out whether they’re in a risk category and should receive another dose of the vaccine.
But there’s no reason for the general public to panic, Javaid said. Most people are vaccinated and protected against polio. And for those who aren’t, the solution is simple — get vaccinated.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Smith & Wesson’s CEO released a statement earlier this week accusing politicians for the recent “surge in violence and lawlessness.”
The chair of the House Oversight Committee pushed back against these claims, saying the company will be held accountable.
In July, Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith did not participate in an Oversight Committee hearing on the gun business.

Convention goers look at weapons at the Smith and Wesson booth last April at the 2015 NRA Annual Convention in Nashville, Tenn.
Karen Bleier | AFP | Getty Images

After releasing a statement earlier this week blaming politicians for the surge in gun violence, Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith is facing new backlash weeks after he refused to testify at a House hearing alongside fellow top executives of other weapons makers.
Smith on Monday said his company “will never back down in our defense of the Second Amendment” and also accused politicians and the news media for the surge in gun violence happening across the country. The National Rifle Association, the nation’s leading pro-gun group, posted the statement in full on its website.

“A number of politicians and their lobbying partners in the media have recently sought to disparage Smith & Wesson,” Smith wrote.
Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., pushed back on his remarks in a statement to CNBC on Wednesday, accusing him of seeking to protect the company’s profits.
“The CEO of Smith & Wesson refused to testify before my Committee and face the families who’ve lost a loved one because of his company’s weapons of war,” Maloney said. “The Committee will not permit Smith & Wesson to dodge accountability or obscure the gun industry’s role in fueling our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
The Oversight Committee has been investigating America’s firearm industry. According to the panel, major gun manufacturers including Smith & Wesson have made over $1 billion in the last decade selling military-style weapons through allegedly manipulative marketing practices.

“Highland Park, Parkland, San Bernardino, Aurora — these mass murders were all committed with Smith & Wesson assault weapons,” Maloney said. “As the world watches the families of Parkland victims relive their trauma through the shooter’s trial, it is unconscionable that Smith & Wesson is still refusing to take responsibility for selling the assault weapons used to massacre Americans.”

Kyle Rittenhouse also used a Smith & Wesson rifle to kill two people and injured a third during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all counts related to the shootings.
The nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety also criticized Smith’s statement.
“Smith & Wesson’s bombastic statement — and their CEO ducking a Congressional hearing — tells me that they’re scared,” said Everytown for Gun Safety executive Nick Suplina.
CNBC reached out to Smith & Wesson for further comment.
In July, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing with the CEOs of major gun manufacturers Sturm, Ruger & Company and Daniel Defense. They defended their businesses, arguing that the focus should be on shooters and mental health reform. Smith was set to also appear at the hearing but withdrew just five days prior, according to committee documents.
The committee has issued a subpoena to Smith & Wesson for documents related to its manufacturing and sale of AR-15- style firearms.
Smith, in his statement Monday, said politicians have “vilified, undermined and defunded law enforcement for years, supported prosecutors who refuse to hold criminals accountable for their actions, overseen the decay of our country’s mental health infrastructure, and generally promoted a culture of lawlessness, Smith & Wesson and other firearm manufacturers are somehow responsible for the crime wave that has predictably resulted from these destructive policies.”
He did not name any politicians.
Everytown for Gun Safety participated in a 2020 complaint made against Smith & Wesson to the Federal Trade Commission. The group accused the company of employing unfair and deceptive practices to market the rifles to young, male consumers.
“For far too long, they’ve been allowed to shirk any responsibility for their role in our nation’s gun violence epidemic and the atrocities that have been perpetrated with their products. Instead, they’ve done everything they can to sell more guns to more people, consequences be damned. But the American people have had enough,” Suplina said.
Smith & Wesson is set to release its next quarterly earnings report Sept. 7. Its stock is down more than 13% so far this year.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky acknowledged the agency’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic fell short.
Walensky has launched a reorganization to act more swiftly in the face of public health threats.
The organizational changes are focused on sharing data more quickly and making public health guidance easier for people to understand.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is reorganizing the agency, saying it didn’t react quickly enough during the Covid pandemic, according an internal review of the agency’s operations released on Wednesday.
Walensky laid out several organizational changes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will take over the coming months to correct missteps and failures that occurred during the last 2.5 years of the pandemic, according to a fact sheet.

“For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations,” Walensky said in a statement.  ”My goal is a new, public health action-oriented culture at CDC that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication, and timeliness.”
The central objectives of the reorganization are focused on sharing scientific data faster and making it easier for the public to understand health guidance, according to the briefing document. Walensky launched the review in April after the massive winter surge of infections from the omicron variant upended the nation’s public health response.
The CDC repeatedly faced criticism during the pandemic for confusing public health recommendations and releasing data too slowly through retrospective reports that were outpaced by the rapid spread of the virus. Public health experts were often frustrated that briefings on the pandemic relied on data from other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Israel.
Walensky is appointing an executive to lead a team that will implement changes. The CDC will also create a new executive council that reports directly to Walensky to determine the agency’s key priorities backed up by budget decisions.
The agency’s science and laboratory sciences divisions, which play crucial roles in investigating and tracking public health threats such as Covid, will also report to the CDC director.
The CDC is also creating an equity office to make sure agency’s workforce reflects the U.S. population and better communicates public health guidance across all groups.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Bed Bath & Beyond shares tumbled in extended trading after activist investor Ryan Cohen said he intends to sell his entire stake in the retailer through his firm RC Ventures.
According to a Form 144 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, RC Ventures intends to sell 9.45 million shares of the company, which is the total amount it holds in Bed Bath.
Cohen first revealed he held a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath through his activist firm in early March.

Signs mark a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Brian Snyder | Reuters

Bed Bath & Beyond shares tumbled in extended trading Wednesday after activist investor Ryan Cohen said in a filing he intends to sell his entire stake in the retailer through his firm RC Ventures.
According to a Form 144 that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, RC Ventures proposed selling 9.45 million shares of the company, which is the total amount it holds in Bed Bath. A Form 144 acts an official notice of a proposed security sale.

The aggregate purchase price of the 7.78 million shares directly owned by RC Ventures is roughly $119.4 million, excluding brokerage commissions, according to earlier SEC filings. And the aggregate purchase price of the firm’s call options exercisable into 1.67 million shares owned directly by RC Ventures is about $1.8 million, also excluding those commissions.
Call options give a buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase stock at a set strike price. Cohen’s options were for strike prices of $60, $75 and $80.
If Cohen hypothetically managed to sell all of his Bed Bath common stock at Wednesday’s closing price of $23.08, he’d net about $60 million, according to a CNBC calculation. Cohen’s hypothetical profits could may been larger if he also sold the options contracts.
Cohen first revealed he held a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath through his activist firm in early March. FactSet says his holdings amounted to 11.82% as of late March.
At the time, Cohen, the GameStop chairman and founder of Chewy, wrote a letter to Bed Bath’s then-CEO, Mark Tritton, saying he believed the home goods chain was struggling to reverse market share declines and navigate supply chain woes. He also urged the retailer to consider selling its Buybuy Baby chain.

Later in March, Bed Bath said it struck a deal with the activist’s firm to add three people chosen by Cohen to its board of directors, effective immediately.
Just three months later, Bed Bath abruptly replaced Tritton as CEO in June, naming restructuring expert and independent director Sue Gove as his interim successor. This came after the company suffered another quarter of sluggish sales and heavy losses.
A spokeswoman for Bed Bath said that the retailer is “pleased to have reached a constructive agreement with RC Ventures in March and are committed to maximizing value for all shareholders.”
“Specifically, we have been working expeditiously over the past several weeks with external financial advisors and lenders on strengthening our balance sheet,” she said in an emailed statement, adding that the retailer will provide more information in an update at the end of the month.
A representative for RC Ventures didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
More recently, Bed Bath has been facing liquidity issues, its coffers drying up ahead of the holiday season and during the back-to-school and back-to-college selling periods.
Bed Bath reported roughly $108 million in cash and equivalents in its fiscal first quarter, down from $1.1 billion a year prior. Its net losses swelled to $358 million from a loss of $51 million in the same period in 2021.
Still, the meme stock craze has found new life in recent weeks, and Bed Bath has been the primary beneficiary. As of Wednesday’s close, the stock was up 58% so far this year, easily outpacing the broader market.
Shares of the home goods retailer are up more than 300% in August alone, with heavy trading volume. The stock saw trading of nearly 400 million shares on Tuesday and another 249 million shares on Wednesday, according to FactSet.
Bed Bath has also been far and away the most mentioned stock on Reddit’s Wall Street Bets page over the past week, according to third party data provider Quiver Quantitative.
On Wednesday, after news of Cohen’s filing began to surface, users took to the Wall Street Bets page to emphasize that the Form 144 is only meant for giving notice about a proposal to sell.
User “foyerhead” said: “Ryan Cohen did not sell. FORM 144 is the ‘right’ to sell. It does not mean you are selling or have sold. If you own 10% or greater of a company, you have to file the form giving you the right to sell within the next 90 days.”
User “DeadSol” wrote: “Of course he didn’t sell. He’s an ape like us.”

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More