Zeta Stock Jumps As CEO, Directors Plan Share Purchase: Retail Stays Skeptical After Last Week's Short Report

Shares of American marketing technology company Zeta Global Holdings Corp ($ZETA) popped on Monday morning after the firm disclosed the intended share purchases by CEO, members of senior leadership and board of directors.

The company announced that chairman and CEO David A. Steinberg, members of the company’s leadership, and members of the board intend to purchase the class A common stock on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.

These purchases represent approximately $3 million of the company’s class A common stock, it said.

Steinberg said he believes the current share price is undervalued. “…and I am bullish about our future.”

The development comes after Zeta’s shares saw a significant sell-off last week after Culper Research disclosed a short position on the stock.

It reportedly said that the company formed "two-way" contracts with third party consent farms wherein it simultaneously acts as both a supplier and a buyer of consumer data, not only allowing the firm to flatter reported revenue growth, but increasing round tripping concern.

In response, Zeta said that in the aggregate, revenue generated by its customer relationships that are also vendors is insignificant.

“The report is misleading and conveys, at most, a superficial understanding of Zeta’s business and practices. It relies heavily on questionable sources that get basic facts wrong, cites financial metrics that are off by hundreds of millions of dollars, and doesn’t even correctly identify the Company’s Big Four auditor,” Zeta said in a statement.

Monday’s announcement and the subsequent stock price jump, however, failed to cheer up retail investors on Stocktwits. The sentiment meter dipped into ‘bearish’ territory (42/100) from ‘bullish’ a day ago.

Zeta Global’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 9:57 a.m. ET on Nov. 18, 2024 | Source: Stocktwits

However, Stocktwits chatter generally indicated a positive response to the leadership’s stock purchases after last week’s short report by Culper Research.