Shares of advertising-platform Cardlytics Inc (NASDAQ:CDLX) are surging Thursday morning. The rally was ignited by a bullish tweet from Citron Research connecting Cardlytics to news of the American Express Co (NYSE:AXP) Platinum card refresh.
What To Know: On Thursday, CNBC reported that American Express is updating its flagship card with a higher $895 annual fee but with benefits increasing to $3,500. Citron Research tweeted that this move signals the growing importance of first-party data, calling CDLX the “next fallen angel to trade much higher”.
Citron noted that Cardlytics is already integrated with major banks like AmEx, Chase and BofA, putting the company on the “brink of their $APP like transformation”.
What Else: Cardlytics operates an advertising platform by partnering with major financial institutions to provide targeted cash-back offers to consumers. The company uses anonymized, first-party purchase data from a bank’s customers to display relevant merchant offers directly within their online banking portal.
The American Express news could serve as a validation of this business model. By focusing on a “coupon book” approach that requires users to spend at specific merchants to unlock perks, AmEx is heavily leaning into the exact service Cardlytics provides.
The stock’s explosive move Wednesday suggests investors believe this trend will drive higher demand for Cardlytics’ platform across the financial industry as card issuers compete for high-spending consumers.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, CDLX shares are trading higher by 73.4% to $2.48 Thursday. The stock has a 52-week high of $5.24 and a 52-week low of $0.85.
Read Also: IonQ Stock Is Hitting New Highs Thursday: What’s Going On?
How To Buy CDLX Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Cardlytics – 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.
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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