Reddit stocks: what meme stocks are trending?

Top Reddit stocks to watch

Below is a list of the top 10 most mentioned US stocks on the WallStreetBets thread on Reddit over the last 24 hours on June 2, 2023, according to data from Quiver Quantitative. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and other instruments have been excluded. 

1. C3.ai
2. NVIDIA
3. Lululemon
4. SoFi
5. Broadcom
6. Tesla
7. Apple
8. Carvana
9. Advanced Micro Devices
10. Visa

US futures are surging higher and hoping to make a positive end to the week as investors cheer the proposal to lift the US debt ceiling successfully making its way through Congress, paving the way for president Joe Biden to approve it before the risk of default occurs next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.5% and at its highest level in almost two weeks while the S&P 500 is up 0.5% and at its highest level in almost 10 months. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is up 0.6% and at fresh 14-month highs.

All eyes are now on non-farm payrolls today. Markets are keen to find out if the labour market is cooling off and what the data will mean for the Federal Reserve meeting later this month. Economists anticipate the US economy created 193,000 jobs last month following the last reading of 253,000. Markets have become increasingly confident that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged this month, with a 71.5% chance of a pause versus a 28.5% chance for a 25bps hike, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Several Fed members have supported the idea of a pause in June, but the key question is whether strong US economic data will force their hand. You can find out more, including how the US dollar could react to today’s data, in our NFP Preview.

Broadcom is trading marginally lower before the bell after a broader slowdown overshadowed predictions that artificial intelligence will add billions of dollars in annual sales. The semiconductor firm said revenue rose 7.8% in the latest quarter but warned this will slow to just 5% in the current one, which would mark the slowest rise in years. Adjusted EPS of $10.32 came in above the $10.15 forecast. The forecast for slower growth worried investors despite Broadcom saying it could earn over $1 billion in quarterly sales from the eruption of interest in artificial intelligence, which it believes could ultimately account for up to 25% of its revenue in the not so distant future. CEO Hock Tan remained more pessimistic about the growth prospects in the semiconductor space compared to rivals and said it is not clear whether artificial intelligence can change that. KeyBanc said AI means there is ‘likely meaningful upside’ going forward. ‘Other than AI, the company continues to see similar semiconductor trends that we saw in recent quarters,’ said Morgan Stanley.

Artificial intelligence remains the hottest word on Wall Street right now. BofA Global Research said technology equity funds saw their biggest weekly inflows on record of around $8.5 billion in the week to Wednesday, driven by the hype around the breakthrough technology. One of the biggest contributors to those inflows was caused by the rally seen in the market’s favourite chipmaker at present, NVIDIA, which continues to push higher and is up 1.7% today to linger just below the fresh all-time highs achieved on Tuesday. The Shanghai Securities News reported that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang could visit Shanghai next Tuesday (June 6). Fellow chipmaker AMD is up 1.9% before the bell.

The AI hype is dying down for C3.ai, which is down 3.7% today. The company failed to impress markets with its outlook when it reported results this week, leaving investors that were hoping for an AI-driven acceleration in growth disappointed. Piper Sandler said markets want to see AI catalysts, which have pushed the stock up over 200% in 2023, translate to faster revenue growth. ‘The results confirm C3.ai likely has very small revenue exposure to generative AI or large language models,’ added Bloomberg Intelligence.

Tesla is up 1.6% today and at three-month highs. Morgan Stanley issued caution over investors getting excited about the electric carmaker’s AI potential, stating that the share price will continue to be directed by supply and demand factors over the next 12 months. ‘With such an expansive total addressable market, Tesla can be considered many things. But we think it’s an auto company,’ said analyst Adam Jonas. CEO Elon Musk recently said he believes Tesla is the most advanced AI stock in the world and that this would lead to a Chat-GPT style moment for the stock within the next year, underpinned by its ambitions to unleash self-driving technology on the millions of Tesla vehicles on the roads.

Smaller electric vehicle firm Nikola is up 2.3% this morning, recovering some of the heavy ground lost yesterday after its CEO Micheal Lohscheller said it could opt to complete a reverse stock split in order to meet the Nasdaq’s listing requirements. The Nasdaq requires companies to have a share price of at least $1, but Nikola has fallen foul of this since April. That means Nikola has limited time to raise its share price and, if it is unable to restore confidence in the markets, then it may have to consolidate existing shares to artificially push up the price. Nikola shares have been hammered over the past year, sliding over 92%, as investors become concerned with its cash burn and losses at a time when demand for its vehicles is being tested.

Apple is up 0.7% at $181.27 and at its highest level since early 2022 after brokers raised their target price on the iPhone maker this morning. Morgan Stanley bumped-up its view to $190 from $185 while Jefferies made a bigger increase to $210 from $195. The company is thought to be discussing the potential to open a wave of new stores over the coming years, according to unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg. It could open 15 new stores in Asia Pacific, five in Europe and the Middle East and another four outlets in North America by 2027, in addition to remodelling a number of existing sites.

Meanwhile, Meta is up 0.4% and at its highest level since early 2022 after unveiling the latest version its mixed-reality Quest headset in what could be a pre-emptive move to boast about its cheaper price point compared to the eagerly anticipated release of Apple’s first headset. The Meta Quest 3 will cost around $500 and will be available this fall. That comes amid reports Apple could officially launch its first headset at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday (June 5), which could be priced as high as $3,000. Meta currently has a monopoly over the headset market but will face new and stiff competition when Apple enters.

Netflix is up 0.7% and at its highest level in almost 16 months. Shareholders rejected its executive pay plan in a non-binding vote yesterday, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters. It comes as writers, which are currently striking over pay, urged shareholders to reject the proposal as they claim the sums being paid to top executives shows there is more money available to pay those creating its content. However, Bloomberg said the majority of votes were cast before the Writers Guild of America told investors to vote it down. Its chairman and two chief executives could earn almost $78 million in salaries, stock awards and bonuses this year.

Lululemon is up over 14% before the bell and set to recover all of the ground lost during a 14-session rout after installing confidence that it remains a standout performer in the retail space after beating expectations in the latest quarter and raising its outlook for the full year. The athleisure retailer said comparable sales grew 14% in the first quarter and reported a 24% rise in revenue to $2.0 billion. EPS jumped 54% to $2.28. That came in above expectations. Lululemon said it now anticipates annual sales will hit $9.5 billion, also ahead of the $9.4 billion forecast by analysts. The results show that Lululemon is avoiding the broader slowdown hitting the market as pricier brands remain in demand and momentum in China builds as it continues to rollout new stores. Wells Fargo and Piper Sandler both said China was particularly strong and is now key to its topline momentum.

Airbnb is up 0.7% after filing a lawsuit against new restrictions imposed on short-term rentals in New York City. New rules are set to be introduced in July that Airbnb said amounts to a ‘de facto ban’ on short-term rentals, which will limit the number of hosts it has in the city. Airbnb told hosts that the lawsuit ‘comes only after exhausting all available paths for a sensible solution’.

JPMorgan is up 0.9% amid reports that CEO Jamie Dimon is due to visit Taiwan today, according to unnamed sources speaking to Reuters. That follows on from his first trip to China in over a decade this week. He is expected to meet staff in the country, where JPMorgan has been present since the 1970s. He is also set to visit South Korea after moving on from Taiwan, the report said.

Carvana continues to find momentum and is up 0.1% today, with the stock set to open at four-month highs. The stock popped over 22% yesterday after S&P Global Ratings raised its ratings on its sponsored securitisations. ‘We believe the ratings actions taken by S&P demonstrate our ability to originate high quality assets in our lending business as a result of disciplined underwriting practices that are complemented by our third party servicer’s experience and expertise,’ said Carvana’s senior director of capital markets Meg Kehan. The recent rally defies the interest shown by short sellers, with short interest of its float currently stood at over 64%, according to data from Fintel.

SoFi is up 3.7% and set to open at its highest level in almost four months. The company has been stirring discussion after proposals to solve the US debt ceiling included a plan to restart student loan repayments later this year following the moratorium put in place by the government last year. MoffettNathanson said this ‘de-risks SoFi’s near-term financial outlook’ and strengthens its ability to build a ‘durable digital banking business’. Wedbush believes this will lead to a ramp-up in refinancing from the third quarter of 2023 as students prepare to start making repayments again in September.

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How to trade meme stocks

You can trade many of the hot stocks being discussed on Reddit with City Index. If you’re new to trading, then you can read our guide in What is a Meme Stock and Why are they so Popular?

Start trading Reddit stocks in just four steps:

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Reddit stocks FAQs

What are meme stocks on Reddit?

Meme stocks are the shares of companies that have gained popularity on social media – including on the Reddit discussion forum. These online communities are filled with retail traders and investors who have researched a particular stock, and then create a coordinated effort to influence the share price.

What happened to GameStop on Reddit?

In 2021, a community of retail traders coordinated a strategy on the r/WallStreetBets Reddit forum to buy shares and out-of-the-money options on GameStop. The idea was to create a short squeeze and force institutional investors and hedge funds who had shorted the stock to buy it back at a loss.

Ultimately the strategy worked, and GameStop’s valuation soared from $1 billion in 2020 to over $22 billion in 2021. This triggered large losses for the short sellers – totalling around $6 billion. The phenomenon was dubbed the ‘David vs Goliath’ of the stock market.

What are the risks of trading Reddit stocks?

The main risk of trading Reddit stocks is the volatility caused by the swings in social sentiment. For example, investors pushed the price of Bed, Bath and Beyond up 314% in the summer of 2022, but it crashed back down a few days later, causing huge losses for retail investors.

To manage the risk of trading meme stocks, you should always attach a stop loss to your positions.