Every trading day, three-four or sometimes five-letter stock tickers move steadily up and down on screens.
Behind those simple symbols sit the shifting emotions of millions of investors, ranging from hope to fear.
Some tickers, however, carry a story.
From Southwest Airlines’ LUV to Harley-Davidson’s HOG and Ferrari’s RACE, certain stock symbols have long stood out.
Yet few investors stop to consider the thought that went into crafting them, especially when many companies simply draw dominant letters from their names, such as Nvidia’s NVDA or Apple’s AAPL.
Invezz takes a closer look at some of the most unusual stock tickers in US market history and asks whether creativity in naming has any connection to performance.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV)
“Southwest has been in LUV with our Customers from the very beginning,” the airline says in its company history.
The theme runs deep.
In its early years, flight attendants wore hot pants and knee-high go-go boots, served “love potions” (drinks) and “love bites” (peanuts) to passengers, even as employees issued tickets from machines the airline dubbed “Love Machines.”
The symbolism traces back to Southwest’s first flight on June 18, 1971, which departed from Dallas Love Field to San Antonio and Houston.
When the airline listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 1977, LUV was a natural choice.
Over time, the ticker came to reflect not just branding flair but also founder Herb Kelleher’s egalitarian philosophy and rejection of rigid class distinctions.
That ethos extended to features such as open seating, a long-standing practice the airline has only recently decided to end.
Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG)
Harley-Davidson motorcycles have been called “hogs” for decades, a nickname rooted in the company’s racing past.
In the 1920s, Harley’s factory racing team, known as the Wrecking Crew, adopted a piglet as its mascot.
After victories, riders would take a lap with the pig perched on the fuel tank.
Fans and journalists soon began referring to the team as the Harley Hogs, a name that eventually became synonymous with the brand and later its stock ticker.
Brinker International (NYSE: EAT)
For Brinker International, owner of restaurant chains such as Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s, the ticker EAT is widely believed to have been personally chosen by company founder Norman Brinker when Chili’s went public in 1984.
The symbol directly reflects the company’s core business and remains one of the market’s more literal tickers.
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ: PLAY)
Dave & Buster’s blends casual dining with arcade-style gaming, making PLAY an apt representation of its business model.
The company was formed in 1982 when founders Dave Corriveau and Buster Corley merged a restaurant and an arcade they operated across the street from each other in Arkansas.
When the company went public in 2014, PLAY neatly captured its identity as a destination built around leisure and entertainment.
Ferrari (NASDAQ: RACE)
Ferrari’s ticker reflects its origins in motorsport rather than luxury road cars.
Enzo Ferrari began his career running Scuderia Ferrari as Alfa Romeo’s racing arm before founding Auto Avio Costruzioni in 1939.
Racing remains central to the company’s identity through its Formula One team, making RACE a concise summary of its heritage.
Other memorable tickers include Petco Health and Wellness’ WOOF, Canopy Growth’s WEED and Cedar Fair’s FUN, each injecting personality into an otherwise technical marketplace.
What’s in a ticker: do quirky tickers actually impact performance?
NYSE rules limit tickers to three letters, while Nasdaq allows up to five, yet not all companies make imaginative use of the space.
Stock symbols date back to the first ticker tape machines of the 19th century, when heavily traded companies were given single-letter identifiers such as T, X and F, still used today by AT&T, US Steel and Ford.
While few investors buy shares solely because of a clever ticker, some academic research suggests creativity may matter.
A 2006 study by psychologists at Princeton University found that stocks with ticker symbols that are easier to pronounce often post stronger performance in the days immediately following their market debut.
Follow-up research from Pomona College in 2019 reinforced those findings, showing that clever and memorable tickers tend to outperform, in part because they stick more easily in investors’ minds.
“There’s evidence that having a company name and ticker that investors like, that’s easy to process, is valuable,” says Russell Jame, associate professor of finance at the University of Kentucky, in a USA Today report.
“It generates more trading in the firm, so that improves the stock liquidity and it also results in a larger breadth of ownership and, ultimately, higher valuation ratios.”
As one investment adviser put it, a ticker is ultimately an extension of a company’s brand. Even in markets driven by fundamentals, a little imagination can still leave a lasting impression.
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