Bursts of speculative rallies in meme stocks have been largely held in check, making some believe the trading frenzy won't derail the overall market that's back at a record. Shares of Opendoor jumped about 7% in premarket trading Thursday after two days of retreat. The real estate startup gained sudden fandom among retail traders, pushing the stock up more than 300% this month. Other meme names that had been active were relatively tame. Wearable camera firm GoPro , doughnut maker Krispy Kreme and Kohl's all traded slightly lower Thursday. American Eagle Outfitters seems to be catching the meme wave , with shares skyrocketing 13% after the company unveiled a campaign with Sydney Sweeney. "The combination of the Momentum Unwind and Meme Mania 2.0 are reducing (eliminating?) people's ability to hold alpha shorts. Combine that with positive comments on M & A pipeline and the impending buyback bid and the storm clouds appear to be lifting ahead of the previously feared Aug 1 deadline," JPMorgan's trading desk said in a note to clients. "Now, if that US / EU hits the tape, we get a deal from China next week, and the macro data holds up and look for this market to take a significant step higher," it added. The heightened speculative activity on Wall Street coincided with a relief rally in the broader market amid better-than-feared tariff headlines. The S & P 500 closed at another record high Wednesday, bringing its 2025 gains to more than 8%. "At some point this steady stream of optimism likely will cause sentiment to jump to speculative levels which would warn of a selloff as nearly 80% of US companies have beaten 2Q earnings thus far and Meme stocks have been making a comeback," Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat, said in a note.
