CELH Stock Edges Up After-Hours On CEO Share Purchase, But Not Enough To Win Retail Investors’ Confidence

• Celsius CEO now directly owns 956,063 shares of the company.
• In late May, three Celsius executives together bought shares worth around $700,000. 
• The insider activity comes as Celsius works to stabilize its namesake brand while scaling a three-brand energy portfolio.

Shares of Celsius Holdings (CELH) bounced 2% in after-hours trading on Thursday after a regulatory filing showed Chief Executive Officer John Fieldly bought 18,000 shares on the open market.

Shares closed at $26.63, down 3.65% in regular trading, then traded as high as $27.28 after hours.

CEO Purchase Follows Earlier Insider Buys

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Fieldly purchased the shares on September 10 at a weighted average price of $27.4357, in trades ranging from $27.42 to $27.4387. The transaction totaled about $494,000. He now directly owns 956,063 shares, including 523 shares acquired earlier this year through the company’s employee stock purchase plan.

The buy is Fieldly’s second open-market purchase this year. In late May, he bought 8,475 shares at about $29.36. That same week, then-President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Hanson bought 7,500 shares and director Hal Kravitz bought 8,400 shares. Together, those three purchases were worth more than $700,000.

Portfolio Push, Leadership Shift

The insider activity comes as Celsius works to stabilize its namesake brand while scaling a three-brand energy portfolio with Alani Nu and Rockstar Energy, distributed through PepsiCo.

In August, the company reported second-quarter revenue of $818 million, up 11% from a year earlier. Alani Nu contributed $364 million. Gross margin held near first-quarter levels, but results missed some estimates, and the stock fell sharply that day. Management said Rockstar integration was complete and that it expected the core Celsius brand to stabilize before returning to growth later in the year.

Days after the earnings, Celsius announced a leadership realignment. COO and President Eric Hanson left the company. Celsius named Tyler Bohannon, then EVP of North American Sales, Chief Commercial Officer. Tony Guilfoyle, former Chief Customer Officer of Celsius Holdings, was appointed to the newly created role of Chief Business Transformation Officer.

How Did CELH Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around CELH stock remained ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume rose from ‘low’ to ‘normal’ levels.

A Stocktwits user expressed disappointment that the CEO bought only half a million shares.

Another user opined that maybe a new CEO would “save the company.”

Another echoed the need for a new CEO.

CELH stock has lost 42% year-to-date. 

Read More: GME Stock Jumps 4% After-Hours — What’s Driving The Rally?

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