Defunct ‘TWTRQ’ stock soars after people confuse it for Twitter IPO

It appears that Twitter’s IPO is set to be so successful that it’s buoying other companies that have no direct relation to the social media giant .

A company called Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc. saw its stock rise some 1,800% on Friday, in what many market analysts say appeared to be confusion over the company’s stock initials, “TWTRQ,” which may have led some investors to think it was actually Twitter.

“Why did this penny stock jump so much?” wrote Market Watch’s Ben Eisin. “We don’t have a precise answer for you except to say that its ticker bears a striking resemblance to a social-media company that recently started chirping about its long-awaited initial public offering.”

Now, that doesn’t mean a simple misunderstanding created a slew of Internet millionaires overnight. As The Washington Post points out, while the stock did see its value spring to 14 times its initial price on Friday, that original share value was only around 1 penny.

Even more interesting, CNN points out that Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and actually went out of business in 2008. That didn’t stop the stock from finishing the day at .0510 cents per share, or 684.62% higher than it began the day on Friday.