Krispy Kreme, Go Pro join the meme party: What are meme stocks and how do they work?

Camera firm Go Pro and doughnut maker Krispy Kreme were targeted by Reddit-obsessed retail traders Wednesday, pushing shares up 56% and 18%, respectively, in morning trading. The latest so-called meme stocks include doughnut maker Krispy Kreme, camera maker GoPro and plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat.

The 2025 meme stock summer rally appeared to have two new participants on Wednesday: 2010s-era darlings GoPro and Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme stock rose as much as 70% before the open before pulling back to a 26% gain as normal market hours began.

Krispy Kreme jumped 25% on Wednesday, adding to its 26.7% gain a day earlier. The company has seen several years of falling profits and revenue. Wall Street expects it to post a loss for 2025. During its last earnings update, the company pulled its financial forecast for the year as it reassesses its partnership with McDonald’s.


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What is a meme stock?

Wall Street defines a meme stock as a stock that gains significant popularity and trading volume, primarily driven by social media hype and online communities, rather than the company’s fundamental financial performance. Think GameStop and Blackberry in 2021, and a few subsequent instances.

Often, meme stocks are initially the target of “short sellers,” or investors betting against the stock. If other investors start buying the shares and boost the price, that could prompt the people betting against the stock to buy more shares to cushion their own losses.

To out it in simple words, a meme stock refers to the shares of a company that have gained viral popularity due to heightened social sentiment. This is usually due to activity online and particularly on social media platforms. These online communities can dedicate heavy research and resources toward a particular stock.

Meme stocks often have heavier discourse and analysis in discussion threads on websites like Reddit and posts on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, according to Investopedia.

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How does meme stock work?

With the rise of the internet, chat rooms and online discussion boards focused on investing and stock promotion began to flourish. These platforms played a key role in fueling the dotcom boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, driving up the prices of internet-related stocks—until the bubble eventually burst, triggering widespread economic fallout.

The phenomenon of meme stocks didn’t fully take shape until 2020, emerging from the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets. Unlike traditional investing communities, WallStreetBets became known for its brash, irreverent tone and unconventional approach. Users on this and similar forums that have since emerged collaborate to identify target stocks, promote them, and invest their own money in the process.

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While some argue that meme stock communities intentionally coordinate efforts to move stock prices, the reality is often more chaotic. Meme stock investors tend to be a loosely connected group of independent individuals, each with their own investment strategies and risk tolerance. Yet, despite the lack of formal coordination, their collective actions have at times triggered short squeezes in heavily shorted stocks. This dynamic can push meme stocks far beyond what traditional fundamentals or technical analysis would justify, leading to extreme overvaluations.

(With inputs from AP)