Meme stocks are back, but it’s different from last time—higher risk and lower opportunity. We’re going to run through our thoughts, AltIndex’s AI model’s ratings, and some general issues we see.

But first, let’s look at what’s happened that does make these tickers classic examples of good old pump-and-dumps—sorry, meme stocks.

  1. Intense level of retail interest led by small internet communities (looking at you, r/WallStreetBets)

  2. Targeting stocks with large amounts of shorts stacked against them

  3. Big price spikes as people try to time the top

Just like with GameStop in 2021. It followed those steps exactly:

1) Redditors started planning their strategy to make tons of money off of institutional investors by 2) buying into their GameStop shorts, and 3) huge surges followed.

A Different Breed of Memes

So what makes the class of 2025 meme stocks different from the $GMEs and $AMCs of 2021? 

Time frame and price gains.

  • GameStop’s stock climbed for days on end before coming back down—but these 2025 pumps end much quicker, with investors pivoting into the next one immediately.

  • These pumps are also much smaller than those of 2025. Example: Kohl’s rose 85% in minutes, then down 29%. Then it posted a lower high. Meanwhile, $GME melted faces in a parabolic 100x run that took days to reach the top of before coming back down.

Look at this $KSS chart—does it look like a parabolic meme stock run to you?

Chart: Google

Kohl’s looks like it could be over already, and it barely even started (by 2021 standards, at least).

Now, $OPEN did go up by 430% in value over the past month—but we would argue that it’s different from the other companies; Luke Lango thinks Opendoor’s rise looks more like Carvana’s comeback from the brink of death as a legit company than GameStop’s crazy run in 2021.

You can decide if you agree with that or not, but at the very least, a platform like Opendoor that lets you buy, sell, or trade your home online has more utility and technological value than a doughnut company (no offense, $DNUT ( ▼ 3.05% )).

Comparison by Gains

We’ve listed the six members of the meme stock class of 2025 below, along with the gains they posted by the end of their biggest runs (at least so far). We’ll then list how GameStop and AMC did 4 years ago.

  • Kohl’s ($KSS): +30% in 1 day

  • Opendoor ($OPEN): +870% in 1 month (again, outlier)

  • Krispy Kreme ($DNUT): +35% in 1 day

  • Go Pro ($GPRO): +100% in 10 days

  • Rocket Mortgage ($RKT): +16% in 5 days

  • American Eagle ($AEO): 17% in 1 day

For the most part, these are small-time gains that last a short amount of time, then fizzle. The best you might get is a lower high on the next pump before they crashes again. Maybe not, but we just don’t see the months-long rally of GameStop playing out here. For comparison:

  • GameStop 2021 ($GME): Rose 11,200% from $4.42 on Jan 4th to $500 in pre-market trading on January 28th (24 days). Proceed to spike again in the following months.

  • AMC 2021 ($AMC): Gained 3,000% over a massive span of time—5 months.

Clearly, a totally different picture. Again, maybe $DNUT and $KSS grow by 100x and 30x from here, but something tells us they will not. And if that’s wrong, it’s a bet we’re willing to miss.

The truth: these new 2025 meme stock runs don’t look like the ones from 2021, and they might not get you more than 30% in the best case scenario. Worst case, they could land you deep, deep in the red on insane pullbacks.

All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses His Net Worth

Meme stocks are fun to talk about and watch, and if you enjoy gambling on them, that’s fine—but at the end of the day, trading meme stocks is essentially insider trading (but done in the public forum of r/WallStreetBets on Reddit).

It’s like… external-insider trading, and if you aren’t in the club, you’re probably too late—and you’ll likely end up footing the bill. If we found ourselves in profit on any meme stock, we’d probably jump ship immediately in whatever green candle we found ourselves on.

And yes, we’ve seen the people theorizing that institutional investors are coordinating propaganda campaigns against meme stocks. But that doesn’t change the fact that you could get burned seriously badly on your quest to “steal from the rich, give back to the poor” by trying to squeeze more shorts.

But What Does the AI Model Say About the Memes?

If you don’t believe us, here’s what AltIndex’s AI model thinks of all the meme stock choices at the moment:

A disappointing turnout, but not that surprising. Honestly, we would question AltIndex’s model if it rated these stocks higher—because meme stock rallies aren’t ever about fundamentals or technical analysis. They’re about which stocks are shorted the most, how much capital r/WallStreetBets users have, and vibes, which are notoriously difficult to track or trade on.

You can see all of the stocks that are trending on r/WallStreetBets here through AltIndex—and not all of them are memes:

See AltIndex’s full list of stocks ranked by Reddit mentions

Hope you got value from this guide—let us know what you thought.

- Brandon

The information provided in Stocks & Income is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice, investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Stocks & Income is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or licensed financial planner. Always do your own research and consult with a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. We may hold positions in or receive compensation from the companies or products mentioned. Disclosures will be made where applicable.

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