“Dust off that meme stock watchlist”: Is Krispy Kreme about to get the meme stock treatment?

Meme stocks may be back on day traders’ radars after donut chain Krispy Kreme (DNUT) soared earlier this week. However, some buyers remain unconvinced.

What are meme stocks?

Day traders on Reddit began encouraging each other to purchase “meme stocks” in 2020. These meme stocks mostly consisted of chains like AMC and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

The stocks soared as day traders purchased shares from the unexpected brands. One popular subreddit, r/wallstreetbets, hosted over 19 million members who exchanged ideas on new meme stocks.

While the popularity of meme stocks dwindled in recent years, a Krispy Kreme stock may bring back the trend.

Why are traders buying Krispy Kreme stock?

Despite not being profitable since 2022 and being around a billion dollars in debt, Krispy Kreme’s stock surged by 50% in a week. Hashtags like #KrispyMoon and #DNUTSqueeze began trending on several social media platforms.

As early as April 2025, traders on r/ValueInvesting began sharing their investment in the company, citing the brand’s loyal customer base.

“They’ve hit a rough patch and responsibly cut their dividend…which has caused the short-term reactionary folks to sell…but has created quite the opportunity for long-term value investors,” one investor shared, explaining their logic behind the potentially risky buy.

On X, day traders shared their excitement about meme stocks trending again.

“It’s 2025, but we are back in 2021. Dust off that meme stock watchlist,” one wrote, sharing a screenshot of the DNUT stock ticker.

“Next recession indicator will be memecoins,” another joked.

Others shared their skepticism.

“DNUT is only up because it has a funny ticker symbol. That’s it. If you made some money on it, congrats, but I wouldn’t classify DNUT as a value stock since its free cash flow is all over the place and was negative last time I checked,” one Redditor warned.

“I predict this particular ticker ends up back in the pooper eventually,” another suggested.