WSJ What’s News - What’s News in Markets: Meme Stock Frenzy, Chipotle Stumbles, Toyota Rises

Episode Date: July 26, 2025

Which companies’ shares are under the sway of meme traders this summer? And why did Chipotle’s sales alarm investors? Plus, why did a trade-war development boost shares of Japanese automaker Toyota? Host Francesca Fontana discusses the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Sign up for the WSJ's free Markets A.M. newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, listeners. It's Saturday, July 26th. I'm Francesca Fontana for The Wall Street Journal, and this is What's News in Markets, our look at the biggest stock moves of the week and the news that drove them. Let's get to it. Earnings and meme stocks. That is what comes to my mind when I think about this past week as investors digested a slate of quarterly reports from tech giants, airlines, restaurants, and more. And yes, you heard me right, the market has fully debuted Meme Stocks Season 2. The first season, I'm sure you'll recall, being the frenzy that surrounded stocks such as GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond. So what

stocks are getting meme-ified this time around? Well, I'm gonna leave you in suspense for a few minutes. First, what's Zoom out? How the index is due? Well, this week started strong with Verizon's earnings helping boost the S&P 500 to a new high on Monday. And the index just kept on rallying. On Friday, the S&P notched its 14th record close of 2025.

And the Nasdaq notched its 15th. And on a weekly basis, the Dow rose 1.3%, the S&P rose 1.5%, and the Nasdaq rose 1%. Alright, where was I? Meme stocks. You guys, the Redditors are so back. This time around, they have dialed in on stocks like Retailer Kohl's, Donut Chain Krispy Kreme, and online house flipper Opendoor. Some of them may seem a little goofy, but they all have some common

ground, right? Meme traders are seeking out the cheap, beaten down, heavily shorted stocks. And just like we saw last time, we saw some big jumps this week. Let's see. Kohl's on Tuesday more than doubled at the open and then closed 38% higher. And Opendoor's also been on a tear, and its's shares jumped 43% that day. And the craze just continued into Wednesday. GoPro, you know, the company that makes those cool cameras and stuff. It's shares jumped 57%. And Krispy Kreme rose 20%. Of course, with this kind of volatility, it's not surprising to see some pulling back and pushing forward the rest of the week, but on a weekly basis, Kohl's still gained 34% and Krispy Kreme gained 41%.

Earning season has been pretty strong so far, but two companies that disappointed are Tesla and Chipotle Mexican Grill. So we're talking electric cars and burrito bowls. Elon Musk's EvieMaker posted earnings late Wednesday, and its sales sure could use a jump start. It posted a 12% drop in quarterly revenue and an even steeper fall in net income. And the next day, we saw Tesla shares fall 8.2% and on the week, the stock fell 4.1%. Then there was Chipotle. Now, as we know, people are tightening their purse strings and we're seeing restaurant demand pulling back. But usually, Chipotle's customer base is steady, since many of its fans

tend to have more disposable income and will still swing by for chips and queso and all that, even as menu prices go up. Not this quarter, though. On Wednesday, the company posted its steepest quarterly drop in same-store sales since the 2020 slowdown in restaurant demand. And that took a sizable bite out of its share price. On Thursday, Chipotle's shares dropped 13.3 percent. And for the week, the stock dropped, oh wow, that's neat, 13.3 percent. Now, it wouldn't be what's news in markets 2025 if I didn't talk about the trade war, right? Yes, that's what I thought too. So let's

talk about Toyota, the Japanese car maker whose US traded shares jumped on Tuesday's trade deal between the US and Japan. Fun fact, Japan is the third largest auto exporter to the US after Mexico and South Korea. Under the deal, President Trump said on social media that he'd set his so-called reciprocal tariffs at 15% for the country and that Japan will invest $550 billion in the U.S. And so, U.S. traded shares of Toyota jumped 14% on Wednesday, and on a weekly basis, they gained roughly 12%. And now you know what's news in markets this week.

You can read about more stocks that moved on the week's news in The Score, my column in the Wall Street Journal's Exchange section. Today's show is produced by Zoe Kolkin with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Francesca Fontana. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next Saturday.