Credit: Unsplash
I’m not an expert in investing. The last thing I invested in was an electric toothbrush to save money on dental bills. Typically, big-name companies like Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple dominate the US Stock Exchange. However, a humble deli in New Jersey is challenging this notion.
Your Hometown Deli, a small deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey, is the sole asset of Hometown International Inc., a food service supply company. In a normal scenario, such a company wouldn’t be publicly traded, let alone have value on Wall Street. Surprisingly, Hometown International is currently valued at $100 million, despite only generating $35,748 in profits over the past two years.
“Someone pointed us to Hometown International (HWIN), which owns a single deli in rural New Jersey … HWIN reached a market cap of $113 million on February 8. The largest shareholder is also the CEO/CFO/Treasurer and a Director, who also happens to be the wrestling coach of the high school next door to the deli. The pastrami must be amazing,” hedge fund manager David Einhorn mentioned in a letter to clients.
This is the deli in New Jersey that is currently trading at a $100 million market cap under $HWIN (they have one store and $35k in annual sales) pic.twitter.com/g8qgOFh5lV
— Nick Maggiulli (@dollarsanddata) April 15, 2021
How did this unusual valuation occur? The reasons are unclear. Hometown is considered a low-tier stock with less than a hundred shares traded daily, or even none at all. The deli was closed for most of last year due to the pandemic. Some attribute the valuation to Reddit users, similar to the GameStop surge, but the exact reasons remain unknown. Perhaps it’s just really good pastrami. I’d be willing to try some.