Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) shares are continuing on a wild ride today, after rocketing 10% yesterday to rebound from two consecutive days of falls. The Airtasker share price opened slightly lower this morning before rallying 4.6% to $1.47. However, at the time of writing, Airtasker shares have retreated back to $1.40, down 1.06% for the day so far.
Airtasker is a digital disruptor in the job-sharing space, providing an app-based community platform that connects people who need to outsource tasks and find local services, with people who are looking to earn money and ready to work.
It helps facilitate work such as home cleaning, repair jobs, admin, photography, graphic design or even website building. The platform is popular among young people and those working in the so-called 'gig economy'. The company generates revenue from service fees and stored value brokerage.
Airtasker executed its initial public offering (IPO) one month ago and, since then, has become one of the most talked-about companies on the ASX. It's been a favourite of the much-discussed 'Reddit Army' of retail day traders, which has led to huge fluctuations in the Airtasker share price.
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Airtasker constantly in the news
In addition to the Reddit coverage, and the mainstream interest this can garner for new shares, Airtasker has also found regular coverage across news outlets.
With many reports covering endearing stories of weird and wonderful jobs Airtasker users are prepared to pay for, it seems these news bites are becoming somewhat of a free publicity stream for the company. And this is in addition to the paid publicity the company is sourcing from a range of social media influencers.
Airtasker share price snapshot
Arguably, Airtasker has become the ASX's GameStop, rising by as much as 200% in a single day. The ASX has exercised mild controls over rapid price surges, placing temporary trading halts and constantly monitoring Reddit threads for pump-and-dump encouragement.
However, it's also made it clear that "hysterical enthusiasm" isn't against the rules. Despite declining three out of five days this week, at the time of writing, the Airtasker share price is still up 8.5% for the week so far. To date, it has also rallied by around 117% from its IPO list price.
