Etsy stock jumps on praise from Elon Musk after he buys a gift for his dog

Etsy Inc. shares jumped on Tuesday after the e-commerce company earned praise from Elon Musk, the second time this month that the Tesla Inc. leader drove up a stock with the push of a social media button.

“I kinda love Etsy,” Tesla’s chief executive officer wrote in a tweet. In a follow-up post, Musk explained that he had “bought a hand knit wool Marvin the Martian helm (sic) for my dog” and posted a picture of it. Shares gained as much as 8.6% and hit an intraday record.

Etsy’s jump comes after hoards of day traders have piled into hot stocks like GameStop Corp. and Express Inc., causing both to soar since the beginning of the year. Musk is a favourite of many of those who exchange ideas on Reddit message boards.

Earlier this month, Signal Advance Inc. skyrocketed after Musk urged in a tweet for his followers to “use Signal.” That spurred ticker confusion among traders who bought shares in the medical-device provider instead of the closely held nonprofit Signal messaging app.

Separately on Tuesday, Jefferies raised its price target on Etsy to $245 from $205, writing that gross merchandise sales growth at the company “continues to outpace broader e-commerce.” Jefferies has a buy rating on the stock, and wrote that there was a “long runway to add buyers.”

Etsy has been among the standout performers of the past several months. The stock is up about 600% off a March low, with most of the gains reflecting increased e-commerce demand in the pandemic.