Although meme stock mania settled down after Roaring Kitty woke the internet chatroom favorites from their slumber, it doesn’t mean these stocks still don’t have a large, passionate following. The so-called apes just haven’t been able to circle the wagons again around the biggest names to drive their shares higher.
Many popular meme stocks still trade at elevated levels compared to where they were before Keith Gill posted in May for the first time in three years. Yet, others are ailing. So despite AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) being up 70% since the rally began, BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) has lost nearly a quarter of its value.
With such wide disparities in meme stock performance, it means there is still time to get out before you regret it. Below are the three top meme stocks to sell if you want to protect your portfolio.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT)
Social media platform Trump Media & Technology Group (NASDAQ:DJT) is one of the first meme stocks to sell. It has nothing to do with politics (well, it has everything to do with it but more on that later) but rather with the business.
Trump Media’s social media outlet Truth Social is a pale imitation of much larger rivals Instagram, Facebook and X. Where Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has billions of monthly active users and X around 500 million, Truth Social has…no one knows. It doesn’t publish such data. The company says it is not important because it’s just starting out, so putting a figure to it is not useful.
What is known is that traffic is falling. Between April 2023 and May 2024, site traffic plunged 39% year-over-year (YOY). No doubt it spiked again in the aftermath of the attempt on Donald Trump’s life in July, but that brings up the issue. Truth Social is primarily all about the former president. The members it does have are mostly adherents of his politics.
It will have moments when its stock skyrockets. But because the platform is so closely identified with him, it will be unlikely to grow beyond that narrow base. And that makes Trump Media & Technology a prime meme stock to sell.
Nikola (NKLA)
Investors in electric and hydrogen fuel cell truck maker Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) should get out now while they still can. The company effected a 1-for-30 reverse stock split at the end of June to artificially boost the share price above $1.00 per share to avoid delisting. It couldn’t hold the price. The stock is down 17% since the reverse split and will likely head lower.
The number of authorized shares fell from 1.6 billion to 1 billion. It has so many shares because it constantly dilutes investors to raise capital. At the end of the first quarter, Nikola had 1.3 billion shares outstanding. Last December it had 800,00 million shares. In 2021, it had less than 400 million shares. In a little over two years, it tripled its share count.
Yet, Nikola is selling trucks. Last month it reported it wholesaled 72 Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell trucks in Q2 and 112 in the first six months of the year. That may provide it the revenue boost it needs though it might not matter.
Nikola had a high-water mark of $45 million in annual revenue in 2022. It fell to $30 million last year. In the first quarter, sales were down 26%. It has a narrow window to gain a foothold before the competition comes rushing in. Especially in fuel-cells, where Toyota (NYSE:TM) has partnered with Paccar’s (NASDAQ:PCAR) truck-making giant Kenworth to introduce hydrogen fuel cell trucks, the window of opportunity may rapidly close.
Upstart Holdings (UPST)
The last meme stock to sell is online lending marketplace Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST). It uses artificial intelligence to sort out borrowing risks for lenders. The firm maintains that its models are better than humans at determining default risks. Yet, the lending market has tightened considerably. So, Upstart Holdings is originating more loans itself, exposing its business to greater default risk.
Moreover, Upstart-powered loans are not backed by any collateral, which gives the lender little recourse in the event of a default. Considering 90% of all such loans were fully automated. That means the borrower didn’t have to upload any documents, talk to any risk managers, and applications were completed literally in seconds. Thus, Upstart Holdings carries significant risks.
UPST is experiencing higher-than-expected default rates and loan charge-offs. Fair value adjustments to its balance sheet due to unrealized losses and charge-offs soared 50% in the quarter. They grew from $29.6 million last year to over $44.5 million this year. Worse, prime borrower loans — those are supposed to be the best borrowers with the least risk — are driving the delinquencies and losses.
When even the top borrowers are having trouble paying their loans, and UPST is finding it necessary to originate more loans from lower quality borrowers, it makes the company one meme stock to sell right away.
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.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.