this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026

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Struggling shoe retailer Allbirds makes bizarre pivot from shoes to AI, stock explodes more than 400% (www.cnbc.com)

submitted 5 days ago by Krauerking@lemy.lol to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[–] mrmaplebar@fedia.io 51 points 5 days ago (2 children)

This stock market is so unbelievably detached from reality it's not even funny anymore. It's all "meme stocks".

At least back in the day there was the thinnest guise of this stuff having some semblance of a connection to the ground-level economics of business. (You know, old fashioned stuff like employing people to make products and selling them for a profit.) My parents generation could at least be forgiven for believing that it was driven by serious people making logical decisions about money...

But today it's just so clearly based on vibes, algorithms, hype, and an unhealthy dose of total randomness that you might as well get into cryptocurrency or take your paycheck to the casino.

The whole thing stinks. It's like one giant ponzi scheme fueled by ketamine and hopium.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Always has been. Nowadays it's just visible to everyone.

[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Some things have changed, it used to be fueled by cocaine and hopium.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

It still is, but it used to be too.

[–] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Back in what day? 25 years ago this is exactly what happened with the dotcom bubble and it was just as silly.

[–] mrmaplebar@fedia.io 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'm gonna disagree with you. I think it's only gotten dumber with things like Robinhood and communities like wallstreetbets.

[–] oyo@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 days ago

That's shifting the blame from the institutional morons with the real money to the piddly retail morons. Goldman Sachs is capable of this stupidity all by themselves.

[–] clif@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

No, silly, 25 years ago was nineteen seventy... Wait.

26 years later and my brain still default counts back from 2000. Stupid brain.

[–] athatet@lemmy.zip 33 points 5 days ago

Didn’t South Park literally just do this?

It’s weed but with ai.

It’s shoes but with ai.

What that fuck is this clown world I am living in?

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 40 points 5 days ago

This world is to stupid for me

[–] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 25 points 5 days ago

Long Island Ice tea Company changed their name to Long Island Blockchain a few years ago, similar results.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/21/long-island-iced-tea-micro-cap-adds-blockchain-to-name-and-stock-soars.html

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 32 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It doesn’t take much to boost the price of a stock by 400% if the stock is already practically worthless.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 16 points 5 days ago (2 children)

$3 to $17. That's a reasonably big jump.

But they IPO'd in 2021 around $400 and dropped to $100 in about four months and have been decaying since. From that perspective it's only a small bump.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

It's insane they were valued that high to begin with.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 2 points 5 days ago

It's not the per-share, it's the market cap.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 14 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Touché, but I counter with much being converting a shoe company to a consumer based AI sales company.

As in: well that's a bit much.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 19 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I guess bullshit is easier to make than shoes.

[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 days ago

Easier to sell too. Investors are dumb, they'd prefer a pretty lie than an uncomfortable truth. Give them the pretty lie and they'll throw money at you.

[–] GalacticSushi@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 days ago

It converted to a company that sells buzzwords to investors as far as I can tell.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 11 points 5 days ago

This is private equity converting a warehouse into a data center though right?

Why does this feel like the new gig economy scam for companies?

Need extra cash? Make some easily by renting out server space!

[–] Deadeyegai@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago (2 children)

A shoe company going into AI? What could go wrong?

[–] db2@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The other shoe could drop.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

They should tread carefully and not focus solely on AI.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What do AI companies need? A place to house their datacenters. What does this failing shoe company likely have? Empty warehouses, and I bet they're located close to good power infrastructure with proper zoning to get datacenters installed before the locals can change the zoning to keep them out.

[–] sealhaslupus@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

if we’re assuming that they can actually achieve what they’re saying (and not doing a pump and dump) the market would have already shifted infrastructure-wise and the cost to setup would have increased.

We’d be presuming that Allbirds owns their warehousing space. For all I know they could be drop-shipping from third-party warehousing.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 1 points 5 days ago

The retail investor market is full of ASSumptions.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Their CEO, just before the press conference:

[–] DrBob@lemmy.ca 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I liked those shoes. Too bad.

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 4 points 5 days ago

I bet you can find them for cheap soon.

[–] man_wtfhappenedtoyou@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Every time I read this headline, the stock has gone up another 100%.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 4 days ago

It was $3 to $13 so... I mean easy to make huge percentage swings when practically spare change for the wealthy.