Will the Meme Stock Rally Save Tesla?

If you’re a renter who’s worried you’ll never be able to afford to buy a home, consider looking for ways to get rich quick in the stock market! For instance, investing in an unprofitable, shrinking home-flipping company can be a surprising moneymaker. I’m talking specifically about Opendoor, whose shares are up more than 400% this month. 

Opendoor, which went public through a Chamath Palihapitiya–backed special purpose acquisition company deal in 2020, is the biggest winner from a summer resurgence of meme stocks, which also pushed shares of struggling home goods retailer Kohl’s up 38% on Tuesday. Both Opendoor and Kohl’s are tiny companies—worth less than $3 billion and $2 billion, respectively, after their recent rallies—so it’s relatively easy for retail traders to run up their share prices by hyping them up on Reddit and X, which appears to have been the case this week.