Penny-Stock Bet on Athabasca Yields 6,500% Gain for Ninepoint

Ninepoint Partners LP turned a penny-stock bet on Athabasca Oil Corp. into a 6,500% gain, according to Bloomberg. The Toronto-based fund bought a nearly 10% stake in early 2021, when crude traded around $50 a barrel and Athabasca shares had collapsed to penny-stock levels.

The setup was distressed by any measure. Athabasca was an overleveraged crude producer, and its equity was priced as if survival was in doubt. Ninepoint took roughly a tenth of the company anyway, a concentrated position that magnified the payoff once the stock recovered.

A 6,500% return means each dollar committed at the lows grew to roughly $66. That math underscores how violently a balance-sheet-stressed energy name can re-rate when the underlying commodity stabilizes and the debt burden eases. This is interpretation, not reported fact: the source frames oil near $50 as the backdrop to the entry, and the scale of the gain suggests the position captured both a commodity recovery and a collapse in the company's perceived default risk.

The trade also illustrates the asymmetry of distressed equity. Entry at penny-stock prices capped the downside in dollar terms while leaving the upside open-ended. Ninepoint's near-10% ownership gave it a meaningful stake in the outcome rather than a token holding.