MEME ETF Relaunches at Market Peak... What Could Go Wrong?

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Roundhill Investments has revived its MEME ETF, the same ticker that launched in late 2021… right before the Nasdaq peaked. The timing feels familiar, and not in a comforting way.

This new version leans into the next generation of hype stocks. Opendoor Technologies leads the pack, up 430% this year, while quantum computing names like QuantumScape and Rigetti Computing fill out the roster. The fund dropped 1.8% on its first day even as the S&P 500 hit new highs, a reminder that enthusiasm doesn’t always equal returns.

However, some Twitter users are arguing that the ETF includes stocks that would be better described as “high beta” (meaning higher volatility) than just “meme stock.” To which I say, Jim Cramer needs to work on his definition of “meme stock” too.

Market technicians are already calling the relaunch a sign of froth. The last MEME ETF closed after GameStop and AMC cratered, and if history repeats, this could be another top signal. For investors, MEME might be less of a long-term bet and more of a sentiment gauge for when the crowd gets too loud.

Thoma Bravo’s Orlando Bravo says AI valuations are “at a bubble,” comparing the frenzy to the dot-com era. His math is blunt: a company with $50 million in revenue shouldn’t be worth $10 billion unless it can somehow mint $1 billion in free cash flow. That’s a tall order.

OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation on $13 billion in projected 2025 revenue shows how stretched things have become. Yet JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon says his bank’s $2 billion annual AI spend now matches how much it saves by using AI, a rare case where the math actually works. Michael Dell, meanwhile, sees no slowdown in AI server demand, even as customers delay deliveries because they don’t have enough power to run them.

The smarter play might be in the picks and shovels (energy, infrastructure, and hardware) rather than the overhyped software names trading at fantasy multiples.

This episode of The Best One Yet runs through how athletes are swapping sports drinks for dill, why ChatGPT just became your digital gatekeeper, and how one designer turned down Nike to build his own sneaker empire.

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That’s all for today. Write us and let us know your thoughts on the market, the newsletter, or the weather—we’d just love to hear from you.

Till next time,
— Brandon and Blake