GameStop (NYSE:GME) and AMC (NYSE:AMC) meme stocks rose substantially last week, gaining over 70%. The return of ‘Roaring Kitty’, prominent investor Keith Gill, has traders wondering which meme stocks to buy next. After three years away from publicity, the trading crowd seems to be hyped up again.
Markets have more experience in sharply moving meme stocks now due to retail traders’ participation in coordinating on social media in 2021. Hedge funds are more cautious of unconventional short squeezes, while the financial press is better at identifying surges in social media activity. The market is simply more mature in its understanding of meme stock mania. Despite offering potential stability, price volatility in some stocks remains possible in response to retail traders or social media interest.
Consequently, savvy traders seek meme stocks to buy whose shares could experience large price moves. Here are three stock picks to pounce on now to get ahead of the curve:
Novavax (NVAX)
An interesting stock pick in this list of meme stocks to buy is vaccine development company Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX). Just a week ago, the NVAX share price nearly doubled with a 2,000x surge in volumes after Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) announced a $1.2 billion investment in the company. The Novavax market cap before the announcement was just $1.69 billion. Sanofi is interested in Novavax’s Coronavirus vaccine and developing new combination vaccines for Covid-19 and influenza.
Novavax offers an alternative adjuvanted vaccine against Covid-19. The company’s Matrix-M technology has the potential to be used to develop other vaccines. This makes the partnership with Sanofi interesting, as Sanofi makes some of the top-selling annual flu vaccines.
NVAX’s meteoric rise in share price could be attractive to retail traders, particularly considering that over a third of its free float is shorted. While the deal with Sanofi may mean Novavax could provide dividends in the future, the company is currently unprofitable, making it a speculative meme stock to buy. In the past, Novavax has already seen a meteoric rise followed by a crash.
Robinhood (HOOD)
Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), the social trading company, couldn’t be missing from a list of meme stocks to buy. Involved in the previous meme stock rally of 2021, HOOD has seen increased interest over the past week. Analysts have adopted a positive outlook for the Robinhood stock, believing the company remains financially sound even without a resurgence in retail trader activity. They point to accelerating organic sales growth and cost-cutting measures for the company’s valuation.
Recent analyst ratings broadly reflect current market expectations, with an analysts’ price target of $20.39 maintaining pace. However, Robinhood has a history of exceeding analyst forecasts, as demonstrated by last quarter’s earnings quadrupling projections.
Robinhood has a very high price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 138.1x, consistent with meme stocks. However, its relatively low short interest implies the potential to benefit from revived retail trading. This may develop more organically through higher trading volumes rather than attempting a risky short squeeze.
Workhorse Group (WKHS)
The electric truck and drone manufacturer Workhorse Group (NASDAQ:WKHS) displays typical characteristics as one of the meme stocks to buy. The company has recently witnessed its share price rally, surging as high as a 50% gain last week, accompanied by a boom in social media interest. However, this surge did not follow good news. The company announced job cuts back in March in an attempt to conserve cash.
Workhorse Group has seen the percentage of short positions rise to over 21%, making it more susceptible to a short squeeze. Few analysts track the WKHS stock, but those who do have been downgrading the company’s outlook. This has placed retail traders at odds with the professionals, revealing a classic set-up preceding a meme stock craze.
With analysts’ price target settled at $0.57 per share and increasing chances of a short squeeze, the WKHS stock may be due for a 90% upside.
On the date of publication, Stavros Tousios 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.
