If nothing else, “meme stock” mania has begun to look like more than just a passing phase. For one, the phenomenon has shown two distinct peaks; the first wave occurred in February and the second in June. However, we also saw a notable slide in these popular stocks back in July.

Of course, the nature of meme stocks is inherently volatile. Meme stocks utilize group thinking. That isn’t necessarily a knock, though. That “group thinking” — done through platforms like Reddit — allows Redditors and meme stock pundits to band together as retail traders and assert their influence collectively. It’s easy to see where the hedge fund comparisons arise from, even if the two camps differ markedly in approach. 

But the point here is that the recent July slide indicates the possibility of another rebound for meme stocks. Now that two distinct peaks have been established, memesters will be looking to predict a third. 

That rebound potential — and a number of other factors — make these stocks worth watching this week as well as in the coming weeks. 

• Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) 
• Exela Technologies (NASDAQ:XELA) 
• Workhorse (NASDAQ:WKHS) 
• Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) 
• Newegg Commerce (NASDAQ:NEGG)
• Gamestop (NYSE:GME) 
• Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) 

Meme Stocks to Watch: Lucid (LCID) 

Now that Lucid has fully merged with its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), CCIV stock is no more. However, this blank-check-funded electric vehicle (EV) startup has yet to fulfill much of its promise as a disruptor to Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) dominance. The deal closed on Jul. 26 and LCID stock is down from nearly $27 to around $24 today. Having gone as low as the $22 level in that time, it has not been the most fortuitous start.

Still, Lucid is far from a noncontender for the EV throne. In fact, it’s easy see why investors continue to clamor for news about the now well-funded company. Lucid’s transaction on Jul. 26 brought in $4.4 billion. That capital is going toward manufacturing capacity. The company also has 11,000 vehicle reservations and anticipates delivery in the second half of this year. Of course, we are technically already in the second half of 2021, so those expected deliveries shouldn’t be far away. 

True, there has been a lull in the EV market as sentiment soured in early 2021 after overheating. But you can expect investor sentiment to change once deliveries begin. And Lucid will be delivering much quicker than other EV startups. 

Overall, this company’s vertically integrated model poses risks, but with risk comes great reward. Given the product lineup and manufacturing approach, it’s clear exactly who Lucid is aiming for. So, even though this pick has died down as one of the meme stocks, LCID stock could rebound very soon. 

Exela Technologies (XELA) 

XELA stock has proven to be a bit of an outlier in the world of meme stocks. By now, it’s no secret that July was a difficult month for the meme category overall. Bloomberg characterized the decline as “waning enthusiasm,” with retail investors “getting pummeled by a risk-off environment.”

That de-risking was attributed to renewed fears that the Delta variant of Covid-19 would stunt global economic growth. But the interesting thing was that Exela Technologies has largely bucked the trend. While meme stocks shed $26 billion in value on aggregate, shares of the business technology company rose. In fact, XELA hit a peak price in mid-July while almost every other meme stock was tumbling. 

Sure, share prices eventually dropped again, giving back almost all of the gains. However, the interesting thing when it comes to Exela Technologies now is its squeeze potential. Short interest levels are extremely high right now at over 36%.

Fundamentally, there doesn’t seem to be anything interesting about this company, but message boards have proven that fundamentals can be of little consequence. No one can say whether another squeeze is in the works here. Still, that short interest is difficult to ignore. 

Meme Stocks to Watch: Workhorse (WKHS) 

It’s hard not to feel some degree of sympathy for Workhorse. For one, WKHS stock was hit hard after the company lost out to Oshkosh (NYSE:OSK) for the United States Postal Service (USPS) contract in February. 

It really did seem that Workhorse was the front runner in the bid process. As one of three finalists, the company appeared to have a real leg up with its EV technology. President Joe Biden had vowed to replace U.S. government fleets with electric vehicles roughly a month before the contract was awarded. Plus, the atmosphere surrounding EVs generally looked very positive at the time. 

Of course, when Workhorse didn’t win the contract though, its share prices dropped off a cliff. Now, they haven’t recovered. But there are a few reasons to keep a keen eye on WKHS stock today.

For starters, the company brought on a new CEO, Richard Dauch, at the beginning of August. He has led several automotive firms during his career and his father was even inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2019. To say this new CEO knows the industry may actually be an understatement. 

So, there’s room for optimism there. And on top of that, there’s persistent short-squeeze potential with this pick of the meme stocks as well. For the past few months, short interest in WKHS has hovered between 30% and 40%. All of that makes Workhorse one of the top names to watch right now. 

Virgin Galactic (SPCE) 

As one Barron’s article recently noted, “Space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic reported a larger-than-expected second quarter loss Thursday evening. But earnings don’t matter for the pre-sales start-up.” That indeed seems to be true. Somehow, share prices were on the rise following the news that Virgin posted a 39 cent per share loss, a greater blow than the expected loss of 33 cents.

So, the reason that SPCE stock was on the move higher despite the loss? Pricing. Virgin Galactic announced that its new pricing point for a seat on its space flights would be $450,000. This news has analysts clamoring to refresh their target stock prices based on brand-strength optimism. Now two Wall Street analysts, Cowen’s Oliver Chen and Canaccord’s Austin Moeller, believe SPCE stock will trade in the high $40s to low $50s. 

Of course, it’s easy to imagine that Virgin Galactic could record high revenue figures if it manages to fill the seats. Given the news, investors may now be eager to get in on shares of this pick of the meme stocks this week. SPCE stock has already peaked above $50 per share twice this year. 

Meme Stocks to Watch: Newegg Commerce (NEGG) 

For this next pick of the meme stocks, I’d like to point readers to an argument made by fellow InvestorPlace contributor Muslim Farooque. In an article back in late July, Farooque argued that NEGG stock’s rally was largely irrational:

“The rally can’t be attributed to the company’s fundamentals or any other news. Instead, the stock has been a hit with the retail trading crowd […] However, the hype is now wearing off, and it’s becoming clear, based on Newegg’s fundamentals, peer comparisons, and outlook […] that its shares are significantly overvalued.”

I agree with this wholeheartedly. There was no fundamental reason for Newegg Commerce to rise so dramatically. Plus, it did look like the hype had worn off for Newegg as it cratered throughout July. NEGG stock declined in a major way, dropping from a close of $67.57 on Jul. 7 to $17.20 at the end of the month.

However there’s something else we need to take note of here. That is, the daily gains are still dramatic for NEGG stock. Between Aug. 4 and Aug. 5, share prices appreciated by roughly 22%, increasing from $16.61 to $20.33 in just 24 hours. 

This kind of action should keep the mania churning along. And the cherry on top? Newegg recently announced that it will become the first e-retailer to accept Litecoin (CCC:LTC-USD) on Bitpay. Clearly, that could fuel more collective action in favor of the stock. 

Gamestop (GME)

 

In the rapidly moving world of meme stocks, Gamestop could be considered old hat. However, GME stock still remains one of the most important bellwethers of the entire stock grouping. Basically, this one kickstarted the movement.

Of course, the reasons to avoid GME stock remain as valid as ever. And, investors who do so have perfectly logical arguments. No fault there. As a conservative investor myself, I completely agree that it’s a stock to avoid. 

But the fact also remains that Gamestop’s massive price swings have made retail investors a lot of money on multiple occasions this year. And a cursory view of GME’s price chart gives reason to believe it may spike again soon. 

This name has shown three distinct spikes throughout 2021. Really, there’s no predicting when the next spike may occur. It’s also unlikely that the next one will be as large as the stock’s initial January run up, which brought GME from below $20 to well above $300. 

Still, GME stock has shown that it can multiply in price after that initial run up. It dropped from $300 to $150 in the last two months. As much as I hate to say it, it has already moved from $150 to $300 between April and June. We could be at a similar inflection point right now. 

Meme Stocks to Watch: Robinhood (HOOD) 

Last up, it probably isn’t difficult to understand why Robinhood is on this list of meme stocks to watch. This platform of choice for many retail investors has also proven incredibly tough to pin down following its Jul. 29 initial public offering (IPO). 

Prices more than doubled between the IPO date and Aug. 4, skyrocketing from a close of $34.82 to $70.39 only days later. In the next session, HOOD stock then closed down in the low $50s.

This pick’s novelty alone will keep interest high in the coming days and weeks. There’s little doubt about that. But Robinhood also possesses a few other characteristics that the meme crowd is attracted to. 

Namely, it has retail investor interest and significant options activity. HOOD stock is simply in a feeling-out period following the IPO. 

News that early investors can sell their shares moved prices down on Aug. 5. But there is no clear path regarding Robinhood’s price direction right now. 

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On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (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.

Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks. Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing.