Tesla is on track to become the stock that's bought most often by everyday investors this year, underscoring the electric vehicle maker's rise in popularity even as the meme-stock craze largely fizzled. Retail traders have made the leap from so-called meme stocks , including GameStop and AMC , over the past few years.
GameStop and AMC, with market values a tiny fraction of Tesla's, have largely failed to crack the list of top inflows in the last five years despite gaining attention in part from short squeezes that rocked Wall Street . " Short squeezes " happen when a rising stock forces investors who bet against the company to cover their position by buying back shares to limit their losses, creating a feedback loop that pushes the stock even higher.