Investing in meme stocks is speculative and risky, and with meme stocks tumbling, now is the time to look for meme stocks to sell. With little more than internet discussion board chatter to go on, meme stocks are the stock market’s equivalent of the Wild West. All it took was one post from Roaring Kitty the other day to reignite the meme stock crowd.
As a result, some of the biggest meme stocks are enjoying their biggest gains in three years. GameStop (NYSE:GME) remains 32% above its pre-rally levels. Others have given back all of their gains and then some.
Because meme stock traders buy and sell based on emotion, meme stocks are exceptionally volatile. Yet the underlying business fundamentals eventually break through, usually not for the better. Below are three meme stocks to sell that retain some of their rally gains. Yet because their businesses are fundamentally flawed, you should sell before the summer begins and they crash and burn.
Meme Stocks to Sell: AMC Entertainment (AMC)
Movie theater operator AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) is a meme stock to sell and lock any profits made from the recent bounce. AMC stock is down 30% in 2024 and off 90% over the last 12 months, but it is trading 49% higher from the levels it was at before Roaring Kitty made his X post. Now is the time to sell.
AMC faces several strong headwinds it won’t be able to get ahead of. Hollywood isn’t producing blockbusters anymore. Since the industry’s high point in 2013, there has been a greater than 60% decline in the number of blockbuster movies made. Since the pandemic, there hasn’t been a single year with double-digit box office blockbusters. Based on current projections, this year’s adjusted box office is expected to fall 24% from last year.
Streaming is killing moviegoers’ desire to go to the theater. Coupled with other out-of-home entertainment opportunities, AMC Entertainment is a meme stock to sell.
Lucid Group (LCID)
Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) is a zombie. Its dead, but just doesn’t know it. The meme stock EV maker also has too many headwinds to beat. Demand for battery EVs is tumbling as hybrids become the sweet spot of alternative fuel vehicles. It has left automakers slashing EV prices to spur demand. That was the only reason Lucid could make a dent in its unsold vehicle inventory although there are a massive number still sitting on dealer lots.
While Lucid has sizable liquidity available to it to keep its business going, it underscores why it is a zombie stock: it is only kept alive through continuous cash injections from its sugar daddy, the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabian government. Without that lifeline, Lucid Group would be dead.
LCID stock got a nice bump from the meme stock revival mania and remained 6% above the price before the hysteria began. Before summer kicks in, selling this meme stock now while it is still limping along is the smart move to make.
BigBear.ai (BBAI)
BigBear.ai (NASDAQ:BBAI) ought to be better than it is. The artificial intelligence (AI) data mining and analytics firm should be capitalizing on business demand to make sense of the large amounts of information it produces daily. BigBear aggregates enterprise data into a usable format that allows companies to make better, more efficient, and informed decisions. But shoulda, coulda, woulda.
The Big Data company has failed to make good on its promise, undershooting sales expectations every year as a public company. Revenue flatlined last year and turned negative in the first quarter of 2024. Its contract with the Air Force is winding down, and one of its biggest customers, Virgin Orbit, has declared bankruptcy. It is the risk investors take when investing in companies with high customer concentration. The loss of a contract or, as in this case, bankruptcy, can doom a business.
BigBear.ai stock is down 85% from its all-time high in 2022 and is down 30% so far this year. That’s despite a big rally in the stock again in February.
After gaining 21% from the meme stock uproar last month, it is now down 11% from those highs. It still trades 8% above its previous price point, so use the opportunity to sell this meme stock before it gives up the rest of the gains and goes lower.
On the date of publication, Rich Duprey 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.