Best meme stocks to watch
Here's everything you need to know about meme stocks in 2023
What is a meme stock?
A meme stock is a publicly listed company from any sector which gains traction due to an increased interest amongst retail traders on popular social media platforms like Reddit. These online communities partake in in-depth discussions speculating on the price performance of particular stocks.
Despite the often-flawed analysis involved in these discussions, because of the high volume of participants, these forums have been known to influence the markets in unexpected ways. The most famous example happening in early 2021 when a short squeeze coordinated by users on the Reddit sub-forum r/wallstreetbets caused GameStop’s share price to skyrocket.
The future of meme stocks
Since the hype in 2021, meme stocks seem to have died down. Key players such as GameStop and AMC have seen their share price stabilise at a price much lower than its peak and the extreme volatility seen back then seems unlikely. For this reason, many people believe meme stocks to be dead. This is far from the truth, they have simply evolved.
Whilst it’s true that forums such as r/wallstreetbets are not as influential as they once were, many retail investors are still turning to social media to inform their investment decisions.
Over the past couple of years, users have become more fragmented across different platforms as other social media sites such as Discord and Twitter have become more involved in the investment space. New websites have also emerged that enable users to monitor activity on social media without having to access the site.
So meme stocks are still very much a thing, but with users diluted across multiple social media platforms the extreme volatility we were seeing back in 2021 is less likely to re-occur.
Why trade meme stocks?
Meme stocks can be volatile, creating huge trading opportunities for retail investors as if timed right, there is the potential to generate a significant profit in a short time-period.
These price fluctuations however, involve high risk and it’s possible you could lose money faster than expected.
Best meme stocks: top trending shares on Reddit
| Stock | Ticker | Mentions | Share price change |
| C3.ai | AI | 304 | 223.4% |
| Advanced Micro Devices | AMD | 100 | 66.67 |
| Disney | DIS | 99 | 725% |
| NVIDIA Corporation | NVDA | 64 | -7.25% |
| Visa | V | 63 | 65.79% |
| PayPal | PYPL | 54 | -31.65% |
| Tesla | TSLA | 28 | -15.15% |
| Apple | APPL | 36 | 24.14% |
| AirBNB | ABNB | 14 | -82.05% |
| Meta | META | 12 | -14.29 |
* Data from quiver (30- day period prior to 11 May 2023)
C3.ai (NYSE: AI)
For those wishing to invest in tech stocks, AI has become the next big thing. As a result, the AI company C3.ai has gained significant traction and their stock has since doubled in price.
Whilst there’s some concern amongst experts that the stock’s value will decrease once the hype around AI dies down, others believe its popularity not entirely based on flawed fundamentals and view the stock with bullish sentiment.1
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD)
The computer chip manufacturer has received much speculation on social media on the impact of their new Zen 2 processor on the market.
Since the beginning of the year, the company’s stock price has seen an increase of 33.7%. This is expected to continue another 11.2% reaching $96.31 in the next 12-month period. As a result, the stock is currently in a buy position.1
Disney (NYSE: DIS)
In 2022, the entertainment experienced a rough year, seeing its stock price plummet by 44%.2 Thankfully, it seems to have recovered catching the eye of many retail investors.
Since the beginning of the year, Disney stocks have increased by 16.4 and in the next 12-month period this uptick is expected to continue another 17.4% reaching $128.85. As a result, the stock is currently in a buy position.1
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Although not viewed as a typical meme stock, the microchip manufacturer has recently attracted attention amongst retail investors. Although it’s not clear why, it may be due to the company’s proactive approach to AI where it plans to expand its reach with new products and partnerships.
Since the beginning of the year, the stock has seen an uptick of 95.5% and their quarterly EPS of $0.88 exceeded analyst expectations of $0.81. Although the stock is anticipated to decrease 5.9% in the coming 12 months reaching $268.79 it remains in a buy position.1
Visa (NYSE: V)
The financial services company is one of the few companies on the S&P 500 which saw its stock price rise in the early months of this year.3
The company’s most recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.09, topping analyst predictions of $1.97. What’s more, Visa’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year and the share price is anticipated to increase by 12.8% reaching $260 in the coming 12-month period. As a result, the share is in a buy position.1
PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL)
The fintech company’s stock price has decreased 11% since the beginning of the year, attracting the attention of retail investors who may be questioning what this means for the stock’s future.
The company’s most recent earnings report revealed a quarterly EPS of $1.17, topping analyst expectations by $0.07. Despite the stock’s decrease in value since the beginning of the year, it’s expected to increase 60.6% in the next 12-month period reaching $101.79. For this reason, the stock is currently in a buy position.1
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
The company’s executive Elon Musk’s celebrity status has attracted much attention to the stock’s performance over the years, and it has previously gone viral on social media.
Despite a 70% decrease in value last year, the company has started to recover and has risen over 50% since then. Its most recent earnings report revealed a 24.4% increase on revenue on a year-over-year basis and their EPS of $0.85 met analyst expectations. The stock is currently in a hold position.1
Apple (NASDAQ: APPL)
Despite the $2.62 trillion market cap, Apple continues to trade like a meme stock with many retail traders turning to social media to gauge its performance.
The company has exceeded analyst expectations by $0.08 in their most recent earnings report revealing an EPS of $1.52. Despite this, their quarterly revenue of $98.8 billion was down 3% on a year-over-year basis.
The stock is currently in a buy position with analysts anticipating a stock price uptick of 2.9% in the next 12 months reaching $170.55.1
AirBNB (LON: ABNB)
The well-known hospitality franchise revolutionised the travel industry back in 2008 offering a home-sharing marketplace. The company often attracts a significant amount of attention on social media platforms and its stock price has at times been influenced by this.
Since their IPO back in 2020 the stock has been more volatile than most, where 2022 saw an annual volatility rate of 56%, almost three times higher than the S&Ps.4 Whilst this was partly due to the influence of social media, other factors such as the instabilities within the travel sector and the stock being relatively new to the market also played a part.
Since the beginning of the year, Airbnb has already seen an increase in share price which is anticipated to continue in the coming months, reaching $141.27. The stock is currently in a hold position.1
Meta (NASDAQ: META)
Much like tesla, the fame of CEO Mark Zuckerberg has attracted a significant amount of attention to stock performance from retail investors over the years. The company’s recent metaverse ambitions have also received much speculation on social media platforms.
Since the beginning of the year, the stock has seen an uptick of 93.8%, this is anticipated to continue another 4.5% reaching $243.74 in the next 12-month period, and the stock is in a buy position as a result.
The company’s most recent earnings report revealed a quarterly EPS of $3.00 exceeding analyst expectations by $0.88. Despite this, Meta’s revenue for the quarter is down 4.5% on a year-on-year basis.1
How to trade or invest in meme stocks
- Research the market and decide which stock you want to take a position on
- Decide whether you want to trade or invest
- Open an account
- Open a position
If you want to buy and own meme stocks, you’d open a share dealing account. You can also trade shares with derivatives. This enables you to take advantage of rising and falling markets by going long or short.
You can also trade with leverage, where your trade size is larger than your initial margin so you could gain or lose money faster than expected. Because of this, it’s important to manage your risk at all times.
To do this you would open a spread betting or CFD trading account. Whilst spread bets are commission free, on UK shares CFDs incur a £10 commission.
Footnotes:
1 Please note all analysis on stock performance is taken from the analysts at market beat
2 Disney stock, 2022
3 Visa stock, 2023
4 Airbnb stock, 2022
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