Facebook recently announced its decision to rebrand as Meta, a name that signifies the growing ambition of its CEO Mark Zuckerberg to establish a metaverse. The company’s formerly eponymous social media platform will continue to be called Facebook. The parent company will be known as Meta Platforms Inc from December, with the company’s stock ticker being changed to MVRS.

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But this change has led to a sudden increase in the trading of a Canadian materials company. The Nova Scotia-based company saw its shares gain 26 percent after the announcement and trading volume increased to 12 million shares, double the average, reported CBC. The reason behind the jump is the company’s name and ticker; Meta Materials and MMAT.

Also read: Facebook rebrands to Meta, will trade as MVRS. Here’s why end of FAANG and FB is big deal

Meta Materials was the latest beneficiary of an all-too-common mistake. Investors jumped on to shares of Meta Materials in the mistaken belief that these were the shares of Meta Platforms Inc. The company makes materials for different industries, including aerospace and consumer electronics.

Smaller companies often end up benefitting in the short term when traders mistakenly buy their shares, though the shares often experience a sharp decline in prices when the investors realise their mistakes. And it is not just retail investors who make the mistake, hedge fund managers, portfolio managers and more are just as prone to human error as the rest.

Also read: Metaverse: Big Tech has its heart set on this “next big thing”, but what is it?

A 2019 paper by researchers working at Rutgers University found over 250 instances of price fluctuations in stock prices of companies that occurred as a result of various events happening at companies with similar names or ticker symbols.

"Something happens with a big company, and then there will be a reaction in the small company

Also read: Facebook changes name to Meta as it refocuses on virtual reality

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)