When one looks at a five-year performance chart for Urban One shares, one may immediately think of a patient on life support who has just received an EKG shock.
On August 1, 2015, the media company’s shares stood at $3.14. From that point through June 12, 2020, the performance of Urban One’s publicly traded shares could be best described as lackluster, with shares never breaking the $3.50 mark while never dipping below $1.
Then, “Blacks Lives Matter” protests fueled by the murder of George Floyd lit the African American community on fire. With reports of marketers committing to serving Black consumers better, Urban One’s stock shot off like a rocket.
Two weeks ago, the swift upward movement appeared to be short-lived. But, that’s not the case. Urban One shares appear to have settled in to a “new normal,” and it is one that represents an incredible 900% growth in share value since the end of May.
It could have been much, much higher, percentage-wise.
On June 19, Urban One stock peaked at $36.30 — an unprecedented high likely fueled by day traders riding high on a much-discussed beneficiary of ad dollars earmarked for African American consumer outreach.
It came in a most volatile seven-day trading session for Urban One, which saw UONE finish the June 15 trading session at $6.54 — already a significantly higher price than the June 12 close of $1.84 — and finish June 22’s trading session at $19.36.
By July 6, investors remained highly bullish on Urban One, and then a gradual sell-off began.
In fact, should Tuesday’s trading for UONE end up where shares were at 2:45pm Eastern, the company’s stock will be at its lowest price — $13.86 — since June 17. To a pessimist, this would represent the disappearance of nearly all of the share value increases experienced in that wild trading time.
However, even if a $13.86 closing price were to emerge on July 21, it represents nearly 900% growth from the average closing price for Urban One seen just two months ago.
And, while the short term outlook (2 weeks to 6 weeks) is unfavorable for Urban One, based on analyst data obtained by Yahoo! Finance, the mid-term (6 weeks to 9 months) and long-term (more than 9 months) forecasts for UONE are positive.
Similarly, “UONEK” — Urban One’s privately traded shares — are at $1.59 after peaking June 19 at $4.15 a share. Still, today’s price is much higher than the sub-$1 value seen across both April and May.
With Q2 earnings due in weeks, it remains to be seen if another growth spurt will occur for the company’s stock. Even if a new plateau has been reached, Urban One’s recognition as an outlet for an underserved consumer group will have finally been realized, and that’s one victory at a most delicate time for African Americans.
