As meme stocks once again dominate the discourse on Wall Street, a Goldman Sachs basket is benefiting as hedge funds try to cover themselves. Goldman's "short basket," known officially as the GS Most Short Rolling Index, has jumped along with the resurgence of the meme-stock craze seen this week. After the man who helped create the 2021 mania — known as "Roaring Kitty" — resurfaced online, GameStop and AMC shares each surged more than 70% in Monday's session alone. When the original meme-stock mania took place, hedge funds rushed to cover their short positions as everyday investors squeezed them. A short squeeze happens when a stock price is juiced up above the levels at which an entity took its short positions, requiring that entity to buy back the stock at a loss. GameStop short sellers lost almost $1 billion in Monday's rally. That experience even led to the demise of some hedge funds like Melvin Capital . The fund became known for betting against GameStop in the initial meme stock blitz. Take a look at some of the stocks in Goldman's basket, which could be boosting it as they get squeezed: Carvana is one of the heaviest-weighted stocks in the basket. The car retail stock has seen huge moves over the past few years. Shares have already climbed 125% in 2024 after soaring more than 1,000% last year, though shares are still hurting from 2022's 98% dive. But Wall Street is wondering if that rebound has pushed the stock up too far. The majority of analysts polled by LSEG have a hold rating, with a price target suggesting a correction of more than 15% ahead. CVNA 5Y mountain CVNA 5-yr chart Furniture e-commerce platform Wayfair is another well-known stock with a sizable presence in the basket. Shares have climbed nearly 19% this year, adding to last year's jump of nearly 88%. Like Carvana, analysts see a pullback ahead for Wayfair. Though the average analyst has a buy rating, their price target implies shares slipping just over 3% in the next 12 months, per LSEG.
