Oscar Health started last week as a $3.6 billion health insurance company, and it managed to add about $1.8 billion to its market cap by the weekend despite a dearth of any apparent fundamental catalysts for the stock. Impressive work!
So, what does Oscar have going for it?
Its top line has been growing quite fast: revenues were up 48% in 2023 and 57% in 2024, which has translated into propelled adjusted earnings per share turning up to a peak of $0.92 in Q1 2025.
It’s a health insurance company that also bills itself as a “tech” company, continuing a long-standing tradition where executives try to tie themselves to an industry that typically commands higher valuations.
The vice chairman of the board, Joshua Kushner, is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, and it hasn’t hurt to have decent relationships with the people in or surrounding this administration.
Those are all nice, of course, but let’s get down to brass tacks here. The advantage going for Oscar is that it’s a new retail trading darling. The stock is one of the most mentioned on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, per SwaggyStocks.
Volumes have exploded. Nearly 50 million shares changed hands on Wednesday — the second-highest level in the company’s history. Options activity has gone gangbusters, with call volumes hitting a record 152,414 on Wednesday and another record 223,468 on Friday. The 20-day average is just 33,708. All this is on, again, no news, just vibes. Hard to be a grouch about that!