meme stock

noun

plural meme stocks

: a stock (see stock entry 1 sense 2a) that experiences a temporary sudden surge in popularity and price due to a coordinated effort (such as a viral social media campaign) by small investors

… 'meme stock' refers to a stock that attains viral attention on social media platforms, but predominately Reddit.—

Andrew Rocco

The theory was that if enough small investors got in the game and drove the stock higher, it would force large hedge funds with short positions (bets that the stock would fall), to capitulate and sell those positions at a massive loss. … that dynamic appears to be driving the stocks of GameStop, AMC, and other so-called meme stocks.—

Michelle Chapman

Price spikes in several meme stocks appear to be linked to the amount of talk about them on r/WallStreetBets, a forum on Reddit, a discussion website whose users are known for mischief-making. From this comes the name: an internet meme being an idea or behaviour, usually a humorous one, spread via social media.—

The Economist

—often hyphenated before another noun

meme-stock investors

the meme-stock craze

Examples of meme stock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The shares have become an expensive way for speculators to treat the stock market as a casino, raising memories of 2021’s meme stock mania. —

Bailey Lipschultz, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024 The figures underscore why some experts warn Trump Media’s multibillion-dollar valuation defies logic and is reminiscent of the meme stock craze. —

Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024 Oliver argued that is basically a meme stock now, with its price rising based on the same principle behind meme stocks like GameStop or AMC Theatres. —

Kimberly Nordyke, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Mar. 2024 The meme stock reached its peak when a group of small investors, encouraged by the Reddit community WallStreetBets and helped along by an Elon Musk tweet, skyrocketed GameStop shares to $86.88 in January 2021. —

Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024 Instead, Trump Media traders appear to be backing Trump as his legal fees and challenges mount ahead of November’s presidential election, with some experts deeming Trump Media a meme stock. —

Derek Saul, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024 One subreddit, WallStreetBets, has developed a powerful role in the financial markets as a promoter of meme stocks, serving as a place where traders coalesce, trade tips and talk. —

Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 On Reddit, investors later discussed what cryptocurrency is equivalent to meme stock GameStop — and the answer was Dogecoin. —

Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024 Sell ratings, market caps, and valuations of other meme stocks demonstrate how unstable Trump’s media company is, Pachter says. —

Sunny Nagpaul, Fortune, 27 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meme stock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.