Courtesy of Bed Bath & Beyond
- Bed Bath & Beyond's CEO told Yahoo Finance the company has a big responsibility to deliver for its new crop of retail investors.
- CEO Mark Tritton is spearheading the turnaround plan for the company, a favorite of the meme-stock crowd.
- The stock price has been whipped around this year but is up by more than 60%.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Mark Tritton said in a Yahoo Finance interview the housewares seller is focused on selling appealing products and reaching growth goals to make the company's shares – a favorite of the meme-stocks crowd – a worthy investment.
The company's stock has climbed by about 64% this year in what's been a wild ride alongside GameStop, movie-theater chain AMC Entertainment and other so-called meme stocks championed by retail investors fighting against hedge funds that are shorting shares of such companies to make a profit.
Bed Bath & Beyond's CEO Mark Tritton said in the interview published Monday that the turnaround plan he's leading is aimed to be fruitful for all shareholders including the new band of retail investors engaged in the stock.
"It's an immense responsibility that we take really, really strongly and feel really both respectful of the process and our responsibility to investors," Tritton said during the interview in New York City at the company's newly remodeled flagship store.
"And whether you've put $10 or $10 million in, our goal is to make you a happy investor now and over time," he said, with the larger money figure an acknowledgment of institutional shareholders.
A late-January rally in meme stocks pushed Bed Bath & Beyond's price to this year's high of $53.90. It has since come off that price -- trading at nearly $30 on Tuesday -- but has seen big swings in the interim, including a 63% intraday spike on June 2 as part of another meme-stocks rally and as the company said it would launch its own private label brands as part of its turnaround strategy.
"Look, we watch it. And we always want things to be steady and understandable. And so we watch that," said Tritton about moves in the share price. "We say, OK, we know we were in a moment in time. It dissipates very quickly for us compared to some of the other stocks. We get back to doing what we do," he said. "We watch, like, is the remodel plan on track? Are we making our sales? Are we getting the goods to the customers on time in full?"