Semler Scientific's Bitcoin Bet Sends Stock Soaring 43%
Shares of Semler Scientific (NASDAQ: SMLR) soared on Tuesday. The medical device maker's stock peaked at a 43.1% single-day gain at 2:15 p.m. ET, boosted by a new cash-management strategy. More to the point, Semler's new treasury plan is all about Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) instead of cash.
In an early-morning press release, Semler said it looked over various treasury strategies and settled on a heavy investment in Bitcoin. With $62.8 million of cash reserves at the end of March, the company has bought 581 bitcoins for a total of $40 million. That's an average price point of approximately $68,850 per Bitcoin, roughly in line with current market prices.
Management explained that Bitcoin looks like "a reliable store of value and a compelling investment." They like the cryptocurrency's built-in scarcity, making it a safe bet amid global-inflation trends. Chairman Eric Semler also gave Bitcoin a favorable comparison to physical gold, whose global market value is about 10 times Bitcoin's.
Source Fool.com
