Chewy (CHWY -6.23%) almost gained meme status this week. The stock jumped after Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, posted a picture of a dog. Yes, that's it! But that's how memes start.
Shares jumped as much as 10.6% mostly on Thursday, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, but gave back most of those gains. At 3 p.m. ET on Friday, the stock was up just 5.3% for the week.
The meme begins
On Thursday, Roaring Kitty posted a picture of a dog and that's when shares took off. Since his return to social media, traders have tried to determine what stock he's buying next and if it will gain meme status the way GameStop did.
But there's no indication he was buying Chewy or that the stock will become the next popular meme, so shares dropped back to about where they were trading early in the week.
Memes aren't what they used to be
During the pandemic, there were huge moves in companies caught up in meme trades. There were short squeezes and massive option positions built and unwound by both retail investors and hedge funds. But the magic of meme mania hasn't had any staying power in the current market.
The attempt to get Chewy into the meme trade this week was extremely short and that's why the stock fell back again. That doesn't mean the company is any better or worse than it was a week ago. It's just not getting caught up in wild trading for now.
