CNBC Guest Who Shorted A Stock Just Got Exposed; Then He Had Audio Issues!

CNBC guest Mark Minervini experienced a mysterious audio issue to comical effect when he was asked in an interview to explain a company whose stock he had just endorsed.

The moment came in a Friday interview on CNBC’s Power Lunch with host Tyler Mathisen. Minervini, who runs a stock-analysis service with a subscription fee that starts at $499 annually, had just finished telling viewers that stock in Upstart Holdings had increased by 25 percent since he purchased it four days earlier.

“What do they do?” Mathisen asked. “I don’t even know them. What they do?”

Minervini, who was in the middle of asserting the company had “very powerful earnings” when Mathisen interjected, replied, “Uh, excuse me?”

“What does Upstart do?” Mathisen reiterated, putting an emphasis on the final word.

“I’m — I’m sorry,” Minervini said. The comment prompted Mathisen to try again, asking, “What kind of company is it?”

“Yeah, I’m not — You’re breaking up,” Minervini responded. “Sorry about that.”