Meme Street, Not Wall Street: Krispy Kreme and Friends Ride the Hype
Retail traders ignite a wild rally in Krispy Kreme, GoPro, and Beyond Meat, echoing the meme stock mania of 2021 with fresh underdog momentum.
The meme stock machine is back in motion, and this time it's bringing some surprising names along for the ride. Investors on the hunt for underdogs and comeback stories have turned their attention to Krispy Kreme, GoPro, and Beyond Meat. These companies, far from the tech titans or AI giants dominating headlines, are staging eye-popping rallies that scream speculative fervor more than solid fundamentals. But for a certain corner of the retail investing world, that’s exactly the point.
Krispy Kreme, once a Wall Street darling for its sugary appeal and fast-food expansion dreams, has been in a years-long decline. The company pulled its financial forecast for the year after uncertainty loomed over its partnership with McDonald's. And yet, in just two days, the stock exploded nearly 60 percent. That’s not a recovery based on revamped operations or a killer new product. It’s a sugar rush driven by sheer momentum and internet chatter, the lifeblood of every meme rally since GameStop set the precedent in 2021.
Then there’s GoPro, a brand synonymous with action cameras and once hailed as the future of content creation. After years of bleeding market share to smartphones and struggling to carve out a profitable niche, GoPro is suddenly flying high again. The stock jumped a staggering 60 percent on Wednesday alone, following a 41 percent leap the day before. There’s no miracle turnaround to point to. Revenue has been in decline, and 2025 projections suggest just a slim profit, if that. But in meme land, reality is optional and optimism is contagious.
Beyond Meat rounds out the trio of this week’s most unexpected winners. The plant-based protein pioneer has faced growing skepticism over its path to profitability, and yet its stock is up more than 30 percent this week. The company’s own warning of “elevated uncertainty” didn’t stop retail investors from diving in. It hasn’t turned an annual profit since its IPO in 2019, and it just yanked its own financial guidance for the year. Still, that didn’t stop the wave of buyers who clearly believe the next big breakout lies not in fundamentals, but in timing.
All of this follows a now-familiar pattern. A small group of investors spots a heavily shorted or underperforming stock, shares a compelling narrative or meme online, and the trading frenzy begins. It’s a crowd-sourced pump built on Reddit threads, TikTok videos, and viral posts on X. The price rockets up. Short sellers scramble to cover their positions. And before long, everyone’s watching the ticker tape for the next explosion.
Kohl’s and Opendoor Technologies were early starters in this latest cycle. Both saw massive gains in recent days, only to quickly reverse course. Kohl’s fell about 9 percent on Wednesday, giving back some of its earlier 36 percent weekly run. Opendoor, a struggling real estate platform battered by rising interest rates and tight housing supply, dropped 21 percent on the same day after nearly tripling last week. The spike came after hedge fund manager Eric Jackson gave it a boost online. That’s all it took to catch fire, until reality pulled the plug.
This is the essence of meme stocks. They're not tied to earnings reports or strategic overhauls. They're driven by narrative. By energy. By a collective willingness to challenge institutional logic and say, “Why not this one?” The rise of GameStop was never just about a stock. It was about rebellion, camaraderie, and rewriting the rules of the market, even if only briefly.
GameStop itself is still hanging around, trading around $24.50 after rising from less than $5 in early 2021 to more than $120 in a matter of weeks. It hasn’t hit that level since, but it doesn’t have to. The legend was written, and it continues to inspire waves of retail traders to look for the next cult favorite, no matter how unlikely.
BlackBerry, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chewy — they’ve all taken their turn in the meme spotlight. Most of them faded. But the fact that it’s 2025 and we’re talking about a donut chain, a camera company, and a plant-based meat producer like they’re the new kings of Wall Street? That’s meme magic. Investors aren’t necessarily betting on a comeback story. They’re betting on belief itself. On the idea that with enough buzz, any stock can become a moonshot.
But momentum is a double-edged sword. When it fades, the drop is fast and painful. Just ask the folks who bought GameStop near the top or held on to AMC too long. The same excitement that drives prices up can vanish in a heartbeat. That’s the nature of hype. It burns bright, but rarely for long.
Still, for many retail traders, this isn’t about traditional investing. It’s about being part of something electric. Something democratic. It's about finding the stock no one else believes in, throwing your chips in, and riding the wave together. Whether or not it ends in profit, it starts in passion — and sometimes, that’s enough to move markets.
So if you’re wondering why Krispy Kreme, GoPro, and Beyond Meat are skyrocketing right now, don’t look to earnings or analyst upgrades. Look to Reddit. Look to TikTok. Look to that very human desire to believe that the underdog can win. That maybe, just maybe, the next stock to shock Wall Street is the one with sprinkles, slow-mo footage, or faux sausage.
Conclusion
Meme stocks are back, and they’re as irrational and irresistible as ever. The names change, but the playbook stays the same: hype, hope, and a whole lot of volatility. Krispy Kreme, GoPro, and Beyond Meat might not be the heroes Wall Street expected, but they’re exactly the kind of characters meme traders love to root for. Whether they stick the landing or crash on the way down, the show goes on — and the crowd is watching.