GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) weren't the only stocks caught up in this week's meme craze. Shares of flag bearers in a short-lived rally continued to fall on Friday, but meme-related small-cap stocks were still rising and poised to end the week higher.
For example, EV startup Faraday Future (FFIE) rose 122% on Friday. The stock is on pace to rise 7,900% in the week. Over the past 24 hours, Faraday Future has become 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 firm Thinknum.
“It's just like 2021,” retail trader and YouTuber Matt Koes told Yahoo Finance. [during the meme rally]”People seem to be targeting stocks with high short interest,” he said, noting that Faraday Future's short interest is about 94% of its float.
Other stocks that were heavily shorted during the session were Crown Electrokinetics (CRKN), which rose more than 70%. The Oregon-based small-cap fiber optic and smart glasses company is on track to end the week up an impressive 915%.
GreenWave Technology Solutions (GWAV) is up over 500% for the week. The Virginia-based microcap metal recycling company was up 90% on Thursday, as the overall market rally was beginning to unwind.
SunPower (SPWR) was on pace to end the week up 29% after surging on Monday and Tuesday. Solar stocks rose 5% on Thursday, breaking GameStop's three-day downward spiral.
Microcloud Hologram (HOLO), another solar power stock, rose 6% on Friday, capping off a week of gains. Microcaps will end a volatile week up around 22%.
This week's meme action began on Monday with the reappearance of Keith Gill, also known as “Rolling Kitty.” The GameStop bull incident ignited a rally in meme stocks in 2021.
Analysts expect this week's action to be short-lived.
“Trading in meme stocks tends to only occur when sentiment is extreme,” Peter Atwater, president of Financial Insights and adjunct professor at William & Mary, told Yahoo Finance earlier this week.
“This is another mood indicator that the market is reaching a point where we should expect some meaningful decline,” he added.
On Friday, the company fell about 30% after GameStop filed to sell 45 million shares of its common stock and said preliminary sales for the previous quarter were down from a year earlier.
GameStop stock is expected to end the week up about 17%. AMC (AMC) has closed up 54% over the past five days.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @ines_ferre.
