If you thought Knicks fans were intense, Wendy’s loyalists are playing a whole different ballgame. The fast-food chain jumped 25.74% today after retail traders on Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets forum decided the Baconator needed a helping hand. One viral post titled “We need to save Wendy’s” rallied users with a simple pitch: “If this company goes bankrupt, we’ll all be out of a job!” For the uninitiated, it’s an inside joke on r/wallstreetbets that anyone who blows up their portfolio with losses ends up working at Wendy’s to make ends meet. The sudden social media stardom helped turn Wendy’s into the latest meme stock today, buoyed by the fact that it’s a recognizable consumer brand with a nostalgic following. Plus, shares are heavily shorted by Wall Street, and the stock has struggled for a while—sinking 66% over the past five years. Beyond Reddit The Reddit post quickly gained traction, with users sharing screenshots showing thousands of Wendy’s shares purchases. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the thread was eventually removed after moderators accused the original poster of using the viral campaign to promote a crypto project, warning Redditors, “If you buy that thing, you will likely lose all your money.” Wendy’s fundamentals don’t exactly reveal a compelling investment, either: US same-store sales fell 8% last quarter, net income dropped 42%, and analysts expect revenue growth of less than 1% this year. Still, some investors see a turnaround story. Wendy’s trades at just 11 times expected 2026 earnings, and the company recently tapped former Potbelly Sandwich Works executive Steve Cirulis as CFO and chief strategy officer, after he helped Potbelly’s stock soar 500% during his tenure there. This market runs on vibes Wendy’s rally may sound absurd, but the stock market has been operating on some very strange logic lately: SpaceX loses billions and becomes one of the world’s most valuable companies. Chipmakers beat earnings expectations by a mile, then get punished for not beating them by two miles. And let’s not forget Allbirds, whose stock surged after deciding it would rather sell AI infrastructure than sneakers. Up next at Wendy’s: Rebrand as WendyAI, announce a partnership with Nvidia, and see if investors will pay 50 times earnings for square hamburgers.—SY |