Why Investors Are Watching These 3 Retail Meme Stocks Right Now

By Trey Thoelcke Published Jul 9, 8:40AM EDT

Quick Read

Kohl's posted its best comparable sales in four years while Chewy's near-zero debt and record 8% EBITDA margin sparked Reddit acquisition talk.
Wayfair ripped 29% in a month toward analyst fair value above $93, but a $2.84B stockholders' deficit keeps the risk profile elevated.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Chewy didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

Why Investors Are Watching These 3 Retail Meme Stocks Right Now — © 24/7 Wall St.

Retail meme energy has rotated back into three familiar names, and the setups could not be more different. Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS | KSS Price Prediction) closed at about $16 after slipping more than 10% over the past week, yet the stock is up 75% over the past year. Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) trades near $21, down 38% year to date. And Wayfair (NYSE:W) has surged 29% in a month to nearly $87. Retail traders are picking sides.

Kohl’s Turnaround Finally Shows Up

Kohl’s posted its best comparable sales performance in over four years in the fiscal first quarter, with comparable sales down 1.1%, and beat on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue totaled $3.17 billion, inventory dropped 8% year over year, and revolving credit borrowings fell to zero from $545 million. CEO Michael Bender told investors, “We are pleased with our start to 2026. Our key initiatives continue to drive progressive improvements to the business.” With a forward P/E near 13 and an analyst target of $17.85, retail chatter frames Kohl’s as a deep-value short-squeeze candidate.

Chewy Draws an Acquisition Thesis on r/stocks

Chewy sentiment on r/stocks hit 88 out of 100 (Very Bullish) in late June, driven by a post titled “$CHWY is an Acquisition Target at these Levels” that reached 133 upvotes and 94 comments. User HunterMichael92 wrote, “I have purchased 250,000 shares of $CHWY… because it’s extremely low to zero debt and a cash generating machine.” The fundamentals back the interest:

Q1 revenue of $3.36 billion, up 8% year over year
Autoship at 84% of net sales, with 21.5 million active customers
Record adjusted EBITDA margin of 8% and a $200 million buyback completed in the quarter

Wayfair Surges While the Balance Sheet Raises Concerns

Wayfair’s 5.2% Q1 adjusted EBITDA margin was its strongest first quarter in five years, and CEO Niraj Shah said the company outperformed the broader market by a high-single-digit percentage. Analysts peg fair value at more than $93 a share. The catch: a stockholders’ deficit of $2.84 billion and $2.9 billion in long-term debt keep the risk profile elevated.

The Takeaway

Among the three, Chewy carries the cleanest balance sheet, Wayfair has the momentum, and Kohl’s offers the sharpest reversal setup. Q2 earnings reports across all three companies will determine whether retail traders’ thesis is early or simply wrong.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.