Bed Bath & Beyond's big dilemma: Can it survive?
Shares in Bed Bath & Beyond, a company that was plunged into the volatile world of meme-stock trading this year, fell approximately 41% Friday, days after its share price had more than doubled. The immediate catalyst for the Friday sell-off appeared to be the same as the one that caused the brief run-up earlier in the week and well before it: activist investor Ryan Cohen. Cohen, the co-founder of online pet retailer Chewy, has been at the vanguard of the meme-stock movement, having helped lead a recovery in the price of video game retailer GameStop after disclosing his purchase of a stake in that company in 2020 on the belief that it was undervalued. In March, Cohen revealed his purchase of a 9.8% stake in Bed Bath & Beyond. Online retail investors took the announcement as a hint that the home goods retailer was Cohen's next turnaround candidate. Cohen went on to pressure the company to force out then-CEO Mark Tritton and appoint three hand-picked board members. On Monday...