A look back at Reddit’s meme stock craze, ahead of its IPO

Reddit, one of the social media platforms responsible for launching the meme stock phenomenon in 2021, is going public this year. The company filed an IPO prospectus with U.S. Securities and Exchange on Thursday announcing that it is reserving some of its IPO shares for eligible Reddit users and moderators who have contributed to the platform. The website, specifically its subreddit WallStreetBets, made a phenomenal impact on the stock market when it helped shoot up the stocks of underperforming and often nostalgia-laced brands like GameStop, AMC, Tupperware, and others. Here’s a look back at Reddit’s buzziest meme stocks.

GameStop is the stock that started it all. In January 2021, retail investors organized on Reddit and other platforms to buy and hold shares of the video game retailer. This move went directly against traditional investors who were short-selling the stock in hopes of buying back their shares at a cheaper price. To thwart those ambitions, Redditors gleefully managed to raise the price of GameStop shares to an all time high of $483.

The movie theater chain was another early meme stock, reaching an all-time closing high of $551.38 in June 2021. Its CEO Adam Aron embraced the company’s meme stock status. “These individual investors likely hold a majority of our shares. They own AMC. We work for them. I work for them. So, by definition, their interests and passions are important to AMC,” he said in a call with investors in 2021.

Smartphone pioneer Blackberry was another meme stock in 2021. The Canada-based company, which has now pivoted to cybersecurity, saw its stock rise 115% early that year.

Tesla rival Rivian, an Irvine, California-based EV manufacturer, developed a cult following among the meme stock community. Its stock reached an all-time high closing price of $172 in November 2021. Rivian is still one of the most popular meme stocks.

Richard Branson’s space tourism company, which started commercial space flight last year, also got swept up in meme stock craze of 2021. Virgin Galactic’s reached its all-time high closing price in February 2021 at $57.

Before closing its stores and selling its brand to Overstock, Bed Bath & Beyond was briefly a meme stock in 2022. That year, meme stock leader and GameStop executive chairman Ryan Cohen revealed he had a stake in the company. Its shares quickly rose in August 2022 to a high of $28, from $5.77 at the beginning of the month.

The iconic food storage container brand Tupperware — not typically associated with Reddit or Wall Street bros — reached meme stock status last year. Its stock soared almost 800% during two weeks in the summer of 2023.