BigBear.ai Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:BBAI) shares are continuing their volatile surge Wednesday, fueled by a combination of new defense contracts, an analyst upgrade and high short interest.
What To Know: On Tuesday, the artificial intelligence firm announced its successful participation in Project Convergence – Capstone 5, a multinational defense experiment. The company's VANE platform was utilized to help forces gain situational awareness and identify emerging threats, demonstrating the real-world application of its AI technology.
This development prompted HC Wainwright & Co. to reiterate a Buy rating on Tuesday, raising its price target from $6 to $9. Analyst Scott Buck cited strong business momentum, a growing backlog of $384.9 million and favorable trends in AI for defense and security.
The positive news compounds momentum from Monday, where shares soared partly due to a substantial 44.85% short interest, making it a candidate for a short squeeze. Earlier in June, BigBear.ai also announced the deployment of its biometric passenger processing software at major U.S. airports like JFK and LAX, a result of its Pangiam acquisition.
The company is also expanding internationally, forging a strategic partnership with Easy Lease PJSC to enter the United Arab Emirates market, marking a significant step in its global growth strategy.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, BBAI shares are trading higher by 13.8% to $7.57 Wednesday morning. The stock is now higher by some 55% over the trailing five sessions. BBAI has a 52-week high of $10.36 and a 52-week low of $1.16.
How To Buy BBAI Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for BigBear.ai – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.
Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.
In the case of BigBear.ai, which is trading at $7.46 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 13.4 shares of stock.
If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.
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