The meme stock craze of 2021 has largely faded. Yet, retail investors continue to look for stocks in which they can execute a short squeeze. Social media sites, notably WallStreetBets, is filled with chatter about stocks that are heavily shorted by professional traders. They are likely to be squeezed, pushing up share price to unsustainable and unjustified levels. Stocks typically take a hit when companies find themselves in unprofitable financial conditions, suffering from declining sales and mounting debt.
As Wall Street wagers on the share price declining, retail investors move in quickly. They push the share price up sharply, forcing the professionals to also buy the stock in order to cover potential losses. This effect can lead a stock to skyrocket in price. Of course, the retail investors quickly sell and take profits, leading to an eventual crash in the share price that can hurt people who don’t get out in time. It’s best to avoid this entire dangerous practice. However, meme stocks and short squeezes persist. Here are three meme stocks to sell before they do your portfolio in.
GameStop (GME)
We begin with the company most associated with meme stocks, GameStop (NYSE:GME). Today, the video game retailer’s share price is trading 70% below its January 2021 all-time high at the height of the meme stock craze. As well, GameStop’s ambitions to become an e-commerce company (the Amazon of gaming) haven’t materialized. Its sales continue to decline, and GME stock remains extremely volatile.
In June, GME stock plunged 20% immediately after the company announced its latest earnings and that CEO Matthew Furlong had been fired. For the fiscal first quarter (ended April 29), GameStop reported revenue of $1.24 billion, down 10% from $1.38 billion a year earlier. GameStop’s sales in the U.S., Canada, and Australia fell by 16.4%, 18.5% and 8.9% respectively from the previous year. The company attributed the drop in sales to currency fluctuations and weak sales of its collectible products.
Even news that board chair Ryan Cohen is now taking a more active role with the company hasn’t helped the stock in recent weeks.
These reasons make GameStop a meme stock to sell.
Tilray Brands (TLRY)
Canada’s cannabis sector is in turmoil. The domestic industry can’t compete with the black market. Expectations of the U.S. legalizing the recreational drug on a national level, allowing foreign entrants in the process, hasn’t materialized. As a result, Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY), the market leader within Canada, is struggling. So is its share price. In the last 12 months, TLRY stock has fallen 48% to trade deep down on the penny stock league tables. Since its market debut in 2018, the stock is down 95%.
It’s a far cry from the 2021 meme stock frenzy. At that time, TLRY stock was repeatedly pushed up to nearly $30 a share. Each time, the share price quickly crashed back down to $10 or less, only to be pushed higher again in coordinated short squeezes. Sadly, the retail investors who congregate on WallStreetBets appear to have moved on from Tilray Brands. And sadly, the company’s share price continues to slide lower on deteriorating earnings. The company most recently reported a quarterly net loss of $1.2 billion.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
Online bank SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) made its market debut in December 2020 during the pandemic. Throughout 2021, SoFi’s share price repeatedly bounced between $14 and $25 as retail investors squeezed the stock on several occasions. But currently, SOFI stock is trading 66% below its 2021 peak. The online lender that specializes in personal loans, credit cards, and mortgages continues to draw skepticism from professional traders and institutional investors who question its business strategy.
The company had been hurt by the Biden administration’s moratorium on student loan repayments during the Covid-19 pandemic and its student loan forgiveness plan. The firm claimed it lost $300 million in revenue due to the pause in student loan repayments that began in March 2020. Even still, the stock actually declined on news that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s plan to forgive $400 billion in federal student loan debt, and trading in SOFI stock was eventually halted due to extreme volatility. SOFI is a risky meme stock.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.