First it was the march of the China meme stocks, a group of small, obscure Chinese companies whose shares suddenly soared, and then crashed, earlier this year in a speculative trading frenzy. Now a 2.0 version of that phenomenon is emerging, only this time the latest big share gains for a new group of soaring U.S.-listed Chinese stocks may actually be sustainable.
Education services provider 17 Education & Technology Group Inc. (YQ.US) has become the latest stock to get caught up in the new buying frenzy. The company’s shares are up 70% over the last five days, including a 29% jump on Friday and another 32% gain on Monday.
Trading volume for the company’s American depositary shares (ADSs) was huge over those two days, with a combined 2.5 million ADSs changing hands. That compares with an average trading volume of around 100,000 ADSs on ordinary days, and equates to about 5% of the company’s stock changing hands over the two-day period.