The Next GameStop? Meme Stock Traders Make Biggie-Size Bet on Wendy's
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- Wendy's (WEN) shares surged roughly 26% on Wednesday, closing at $7.86 after dipping to $6.08 earlier in the week
- r/WallStreetBets post "We need to save Wendy's" garnered 18,000+ upvotes, with retail traders flooding the thread with share purchases and long options bets
- WEN trading volume hit 203 million shares — a 1,970% jump over its typical 10 million daily average, per Yahoo Finance
- Wendy's stock remains down 36% over the past year and 66% over five years despite the one-day spike
- StockTwits ranked WEN its #1 trending ticker as the rally crossed platforms
- A Solana-based 'WEN' meme coin on Pump.fun, unaffiliated with The Wendy's Company, hit a $439,000 market cap (up 1,450% in 24 hours), and the original Reddit poster promoted the token's contract address in their bio
Why it matters: Retail traders drove a 26% one-day surge in WEN with volume nearly 20x normal, but the stock is still down 66% over five years — a pattern that echoes the GameStop, AMC, and Bed Bath & Beyond rallies that deflated after the initial spike. The Reddit poster simultaneously promoting a Solana meme coin from the same thread muddies the 'saving the company' narrative into a self-dealing setup.
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