‘I’m already up $45,000 – in about an hour of trading’: The meme-stock craze is

Meme stock mania is back with a bang. Once more, small investors with a taste for a gamble are piling into unloved ‘meme’ companies whose bombed-out share prices make them seem like the biggest bargain buy of the summer of 2025.

It’s a replay of the craze that gripped the world in the pandemic era of 2021 when the share price of video game store GameStop leapt by 2,500 per cent in a day, turning this hapless business into the iconic meme stock.

These amateur investors, using mobile trading apps, are taking time off from worrying about President Trump’s tariffs. They are giving into FOMO (fear of missing out) to delight in some speculation – and boast about their winnings online. Fortunes are being made overnight, although only the lucky few with immaculate timing are making money.

It’s routine to post a screenshot of your trading account with a comment such as: ‘I’m already up $45,000 – in an about an hour of trading.’

There are claims of six-figure profits scored in a day, thanks to dizzying rises in share prices in companies like property start up OpenDoor Technologies.

One investor was proud to proclaim a huge increase in his holding, saying his initial stake of $104,000 had grown to $290,340 within days. People don’t shout so loudly about their losses, however.

The latest meme stock is clothing company American Eagle which faces challenges. But the brand’s new face is the actress Sydney Sweeney, star of Euphoria and White Lotus, news that sent the previously languishing share price soaring, rewarding those who bought and sold before the price fell back.

As was the case in 2021, a vein of anti-authoritarianism underpins the frenetic trading. The small investor army is mounting a rebellion against Wall Street firms who consider certain stocks are fast heading downwards.

Motivated by the desire to ‘stick it to the man’ and – maybe – make a killing, US small investors have poured a record $155billion into the stock market during the first half of this year. They seem to have a renewed appetite for a massive dollop of risk and criticism is mounting that the markets are being ‘gamblified’.

Similar accusations were made in 2021. But observers of the 2025 meme stock phenomenon say this time it’s different, in several ways. For one thing, some investors are asking ChatGPT, the generative artificial intelligence system, for share tips.

In 2021, the WallStreetBets section of the Reddit online forum and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, were the key sources of recommendations.

They retain this status but have been joined by the StockTwits platform which this week cited American Eagle as the next meme stock darling.

But the resulting 18 per cent advance in American Eagle shares is minor compared with the upward moves in the prices of other companies caught up in the frenzy.

OpenDoor Technologies – which matches buyers and sellers of homes – is yet to turn a profit. Its shares were in the doldrums. But this month they have bounced by 329 percent to $2.

This ascent was spurred by the prediction that the price was heading for $82. This came not from a big Wall Street firm, but from the boss of a small Canadian hedge fund.

The action has heated up further this week with sharp climbs in the shares of other companies like debt-laden doughnut business Krispy Kreme – whose price has advanced by 40 per cent.

GoPro has jumped by 99 per cent, although this company, which makes cameras for action sports people, has failed to keep pace with technology.

The hype has even spread to Beyond Meat. This loss-making company makes plant-based burgers which have not proved a smash hit. Nevertheless, its shares are 20 per cent higher than a month ago.

Also defying gravity – for a while at least – has been Kohl’s, the US department store chain that’s been hard hit by online shopping.

On Monday Kohl’s share price was $10. On Tuesday it leapt to $19.44. By…