The Federal Reserve is yet to cut interest rates and make capital cheaper. FUD fund futures project the central bank will cut rates two times this year, with the first one in September, which could influence decisions on meme stocks to sell.
But even if that happens, the market would get a signal that the economy needs to be stimulated even though inflation is off the 2% target. Historically, such an indicator would make the market more volatile in the short run. And which asset is inherently volatile already? Meme stocks.
In fact, investors may be looking at macro data and pushing in the profit-taking direction. This alone would put a sell pressure on these assets as a self-fulfilling prophecy. With that in mind, let’s take a look at meme stocks to sell, ones that have had plenty of gains already to lock in profits.
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC)
The meme twin of GameStop (NYSE:GME), AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) benefited from mid-May’s return of Keith Gill aka Roaring Kitty, the stock meme maker. At that time, AMC announced the sale of shares worth $164 million. Accounting for accrued interest and principal, that would place the stock price at $7.33 per share.
This was just after the filing of 72.5 million sold shares, raising $250 million, at an average price of $3.45 per share. While this goes a long way in diminishing AMC’s debt, it is still exceedingly high at $10.56 billion as of the latest May filing.
Concurrently, AMC’s accumulated deficit actually grew from the year-ago quarter, from $7.9 billion to $8.15 billion. At the same time, the company is yet to churn out a substantial profitable quarter (net income above $114M) since 2013.
The question investors need to ask then, are AMC fundamentals ever going to bridge this gap? Simply put, meme fumes alone are unlikely to cut it. Aligning with lower arts attendance, 6% less in 2022 than in 2017, movie theater attendance is even worse, showing little to no signs of recovery.
Alongside poorer movie quality, ideological commitments from movie studios that cause friction with audiences, and less security in urban areas, investors also have to account for new habits. Social media is habituating users to short-form content, and people are socializing less for coordinated excursions to movies.
Compounded with consumer weakening via inflation, none of it points to AMC’s recovery. At the present price of $4.86, AMC stock is double its 52-week low of $2.38 per share, making for a solid exit point. Investors who are betting on memory have a 52-week high of $54.97 to look for, as an unlikely and brief scenario.
SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
Focusing on digital lending, investing, and personal finance, SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) has become popular with retail. This garnered their attention outside the user experience into the SOFI stock itself, similar to Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD).
In turn, SOFI stock has seen much volatility during 2024, settling at 33% decline year-to-date (YTD). Unlike AMC, however, SOFI doesn’t have weak fundamentals. The platform gained 20% more accounts year-over-year (YOY) to current $151 million.
SoFi Technologies increased net income in Q1 of 2024 substantially, $88 million from net loss of $34.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Nevertheless, if the Fed’s hard landing happens, these figures will go down. At present price of $6.42, SOFI stock almost matches its 52-week low price, which is not far from the 52-week average of $8.01 per share.
The bottom line is, SoFi Technologies is not a weak stock, but its volatility injected a lot of noise, ahead of macro headwinds. This marks SOFI stock as one of meme stocks to sell, but to keep it in mind later on.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR)
Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies (NYSE:PLTR) is a great case of locking in profits. Known as deeply embedded in deep state operations owing to its data integration and analytics platforms, the company lacks weak fundamentals.
In the last Q1 of 2024 earnings, PLTR (named after far-seeing crystal balls in The Lord of the Rings) achieved 21% YOY revenue growth. Ahead of the government revenue increase of 16%, commercial revenue grew by 27% YOY, with 42% client base growth.
More importantly, the company continued its six-successive quarters profitability streak. However, with market volatility on the horizon, and the company’s five years of net losses, this is a strong case to designate PLTR as one of meme stocks to sell.
Presently priced at $25.82, PLTR stock is above its average 52-week level of $19.01, and nearly doubles its 52-week low of $13.56 per share.
On the date of publication, Shane Neagle did not hold (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.
