GameStop and AMC were the early faces of the meme stock revolution as retail investors traded these shares in a viral frenzy even if there wasn’t factual news.
Famously, investor Roaring Kitty, also known as Keith Gill and Deep-F…value, who had gone quiet for three years, returned to social media in June 2024 with a Reddit post that showed a ledger of GameStop holdings worth millions. The stock soared 30% after the post.
Keith Gill, known on Reddit under the pseudonym DeepF…Value and as Roaring Kitty, is seen on a fragment of a youtube video displayed on a smartphone screen in front of GameStop logo. (Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images)
He also posted on X a reverse green card from the game Uno. While he didn't specify the meaning, in the stock meme world it can reportedly signal a comeback.
While the GME thread has died down, investors now have an exchange-traded fund for the next class of meme stocks; Opendoor Technologies, Plug Power, and Applied Digital Corp which rolled out Wednesday by Roundhill Investments.
"Meme stocks started as a rebellion but have grown into a revolution," said Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments in the announcement. "From GameStop to AMC and beyond, retail investors have proven that they are here to stay as a permanent force in the market. With MEME, we offer investors a tool to capture that power through an actively managed ETF that can rotate quickly into the stocks dominating the conversation today."
A cyclist rides his bike by an AMC theater in San Francisco. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Trading under the ticker aptly named MEME, the firm notes investors can use the ETF "whether as a momentum-driven trade for those seeking to ride retail enthusiasm, or as a hedge against a short book…" which are bets a stock will fall.
In the case of Opendoor Technologies, that stock is up 430% this year but has traded in a range of $0.51 to $10.87 per share. Its retail investors, known as the "Open Army" according to the Wall Street Journal, have powered shake-ups in the C-Suite and strategy moves for the digital home flipping company. It is not profitable.
Other stocks in MEME include Hims & Hers Health, Quantum Computing and Bloom Energy to name a few.