GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) weren’t the only stocks caught up in this week’s meme craze. While shares of the short-lived rally’s flag bearers continued to unravel Friday, smaller meme-related equities ended the week with higher gains.
For example, EV-related startup Faraday Future (FFIE) soared as much as 122% Friday before crashing into red territory. The stock still gained more than 2,000% over the past five days.
Over the past 24 hours, Faraday Future was the third-most-mentioned stock on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Nvidia (NVDA), according to web data company Thinknum.
Retail trader and YouTuber Matt Kohrs told Yahoo Finance, “Similar to 2021 [during the meme rally], people seem to be targeting equities with high short interest,” noting Faraday Future’s short interest sits at roughly 92% of the float.
Other heavily shorted stocks that were volatile during the session include Crown ElectroKinetics (CRKN). The Oregon-based smart glass micro-cap company gained more than 325% over the past five days.
Greenwave Technology Solutions (GWAV) was up more than 280% for the week. The small, Virginia-based metal recycling company added to prior session gains as shares of GameStop and AMC were unraveling.
MicroCloud Hologram (HOLO), a solar play, was up as much as 8% Friday while GameStop and AMC were falling to cap off a volatile week. The micro-cap rose about 21% over the past five days.
This week’s meme action started on Monday following the re-emergence of Keith Gill, also known as “Roaring Kitty,” whose bull case on GameStop ignited the meme stock rally back in 2021.
Analysts anticipated this week’s action would be short-lived.
“The meme stock trades tend to only occur at extremes in sentiment,” Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insyghts and adjunct professor William & Mary, told Yahoo Finance earlier this week.
“This is yet another mood indicator that the markets are reaching a point where we should expect some sort of a meaningful pullback,” he added.
On Friday, GameStop fell almost 20% after the company filed to sell 45 million new shares of common stock and revealed preliminary sales fell last quarter from the same period last year.
GameStop shares ended the week with a 27% gain. AMC (AMC) is up more than 50% over the past five days.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre.
Source: finance.yahoo.com