Jumia's Stock Surges To Close The Week After Citron Turn

Shares of the African e-commerce company are up sharply Friday.

About Jumia: Jumia Technologies JMIA is an e-commerce company in Africa with operations in 11 countries in the continent. The company operates its Jumia Logistics and Jumia Pay businesses and also recently launched gaming division.

Jumia had 6.8 million consumers in the second quarter, year-over-year growth of 40%. The company also saw an all-time high for its Jumia Pay gross volume and saw 2.4 million transactions in the second quarter.

Andrew Left Bullish: Activist investor Andrew Left of Citron Research has changed his tune and is now going long shares of Jumia.

In May 2019, Left called out fraud at the company and said shares were worthless. This came shortly after the company went public in April at $14.50 a share.

“I am positive on their outlook now that much of the fraud seems to be behind them,” Left told The Africa Report earlier this week. He mentioned a $50 price target on shares at the time.

A new report is expected from Left soon on his long-term outlook for Jumia.

Related Link: Unusual Options Activity Insight: Jumia Technologies

CNBC Mention: On Friday's “Halftime Report,” Stephen Weiss said Jumia was his new buy. He later told a Twitter user it was not yet a core holding, but he would do some more research.

Stripe Acquisition: Another reason Jumia might be moving is an acquisition made by Stripe Thursday. Stripe, one of the highest valued private companies, announced the acquisition of Paystack, a Nigerian company.

The deal marks the largest acquisition of a startup in Nigeria and also is Stripe’s largest acquisition.

JMIA Price Action: Shares of Jumia Technologies are up 22% to $15.72 Friday.