It’s ‘yesterday once more’. Meme stock mania seems to be back. In 2021, GameStop, AMC Entertainment, Bed Bath & Beyond and many more were the stocks that rode the meme stocks frenzy. GameStop was deemed one of the first meme stocks on Wall Street.
In 2025, that role is being played reportedly by DORK stocks – Krispy Kreme (DNUT), Opendoor (OPEN), Rocket Mortgage (RKT) and Kohl’s (KSS) – a reference to the first letter of their stock ticker.
What are Meme Stocks
Meme stocks are typically those that see significant jumps in trading volumes and stock prices, driven by a mix of social media hype, short squeezes, and technical breakouts, despite little to no change in the underlying business fundamentals.
Meme stocks often face chaotic volatility due to social media hype, while others anticipate fundamental turnarounds in the early stages of the company.
Unlike traditional stocks, demand for a meme stock, and therefore its share price, does not seem to be primarily driven by new information about the company or general economic or market conditions.
Meme Stocks
Opendoor Technologies, a company that has seen a significant stock price increase following a push from social media users, recently traded under $1. The day the news arrived that the hedge-fund manager Eric Jackson’s firm, EMJ Capital, had taken a position in the stock, the stock saw consecutive double-digit percentage gains and the shares are up 333% in a month.
EMJ Capital founder Eric Jackson is excited about Opendoor’s turnaround story, stating it’s not a meme stock but a legitimate turnaround story.
Krispy Kreme’s trading volume surged from five million shares to 150 million in a single day, causing a market shockwave. Krispy Kreme and Kohl’s stock is up over 60% in one month.
Reportedly, Jim Cramer has warned short sellers of Kohl’s that they have overplayed their hand, urging them to cover and move on before the situation becomes a GameStop.
Meme Stocks Risks
Small investors’ influence on Wall Street has been evident since the pandemic, when online trading tools, low interest rates, and boredom sparked the meme mania. Meme mania was at its peak then.
Once again, Reddit’s much-popular community, the WallStreetBets is buzzing with activity and retail investors are buying low-priced penny stocks like there’s no tomorrow.
It could be early days for these meme stocks to rally harder, as some of the recent gains have turned into losses for most investors. The risks attached to meme stocks are certainly higher than those of other large-cap and stocks that are tracked and analyzed by a large number of investors and analysts. Meme stocks run the risk of erosion of the entire capital invested in them.