Retail investors talked up five hot stocks during the week (Aug. 3 to Aug. 7) on X and Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets, driven by retail hype, earnings, AI infrastructure momentum, and corporate news flow.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:HTZ), spanning space, AI, semiconductors, cloud, cybersecurity, gaming, and car rental, reflected strong retail interest.
Space Exploration Technologies
- SPCX this week centered on its first public second-quarter 2026 earnings, which showed $7.8 billion in revenue, up 92% year-over-year; an improved net loss of $541 million; strong Starlink growth; AI segment expansion; and a $47.5 billion backlog, though heavy AI-related capex of around $16 billion plus sparked investor concern. The stock then recovered some ground on Aug. 6 amid high volume as a major lockup expired, releasing up to ~911 million insider shares.
- Some bullish retail investors were mocking SPCX bears for expecting a decline in the stock after its first tranche of lockup expiration.
- The stock has traded in a range of $104.83 to $225.64 and declined by 23.39% since its listing. Also, it was 28.36% lower over the last month and up 2.42% in the last five trading sessions, as of the publication of this article.
- According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, SPCX was maintaining a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms.
Advanced Micro Devices
- AMD’s major news this week centered on its second-quarter 2026 earnings, which showed record revenue of $11.54 billion, up 50% YoY, and adjusted EPS of $1.66, driven by Data Center sales more than doubling to $6.7 billion on strong EPYC CPU and Instinct GPU demand. The company guided third-quarter revenue to about $13 billion and said Data Center revenue should more than double again in 2027. On Aug. 6, AMD announced it would acquire Taalas to strengthen its AI inference capabilities.
- Some retail traders believed that AMD’s acquisition of Taalas gives AMD its own hyper-efficient inference chip tech, making its partnership with Cerebras Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRS) redundant and destroying the value of CBRS stock.
- The stock had a 52-week range of $149.22 to $584.73, trading around $488 to $494 per share, as of the publication of this article. It advanced by 199.95% over the year and 134.73% in the last six months. The stock was up 128.46% YTD.
- Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings showed that AMD had a weak price trend in the short term but a strong trend in the long and medium terms, with a good quality score.
Palantir Technologies
- PLTR’s dominant story this week was its second-quarter 2026 earnings, which showed revenue of $1.94 billion, up 93% year-on-year, and adjusted EPS of $0.41, powered by "otherworldly" U.S. commercial growth of 149% to $764 million and strong U.S. government results. The company raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $8.15–$8.16 billion, from prior ~$7.65–$7.66 billion, along with higher outlooks for operating income and free cash flow, citing surging demand for "sovereign AI."
- Despite its “otherworldly” earnings, some retail investors were still skeptical of PLTR’s performance.
- The stock had a 52-week range of $106.37 to $207.52, trading around $154 to $158 per share, as of the publication of this article. It declined by 213.16% over the year and rose by 14.73% in the last six months. The stock was down 12.28% YTD.
- PLTR maintains a strong price trend over the short, long, and medium terms, with a good growth score, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.
GameStop
- GME’s main news this week was its Aug. 3 announcement of a private exchange of about $1.4 billion in outstanding 0% convertible senior notes due 2030 and 2032 for Class A common stock. This will retire its debt without using cash. The deal is expected to close around Sept. 23, with the share count based partly on a 35-day VWAP starting that day. The move sparked dilution concerns and sent the stock down sharply, wiping out its 2026 gains and hitting multi-month lows, though some retail traders later framed it as balance-sheet strengthening amid the company’s ongoing interest in acquiring eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY).
- Some retail investors were still heavily bearish on GME.
- The stock had a 52-week range of $18.55 to $28.10, trading around $18 to $20 per share, as of the publication of this article. It fell by 15.69% over the year, down 23.02% over the last six months, and down 4.23% YTD.
- According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, GME was maintaining a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a good value score.
Hertz Global Holdings
- Hertz’s primary news this week was its second-quarter 2026 earnings, which showed revenue of $2.4 billion, up 10% YoY, an adjusted loss of $0.11 per share, better than the expected $0.24 loss, and Adjusted Corporate EBITDA of $81 million driven by strong pricing and improved utilization despite elevated vehicle recalls. The results boosted confidence in the company’s turnaround, with guidance pointing to third-quarter Adjusted Corporate EBITDA of $275–$325 million and full-year 2026 Adjusted Corporate EBITDA of $225–$275 million.
- Hertz was a major topic, with many Redditors discussing its potential as a pump and dump scheme or a short squeeze opportunity.
- The stock had a 52-week range of $1.4500 to $8.1800, trading around $1 to $3 per share, as of the publication of this article. It fell by 63.73% over the year, down 61.81% over the last six months, and lower by 60.70% YTD.
- According to Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, HTZ was maintaining a weak price trend over the short, medium, and long terms.
Retail focus comprised AI infrastructure momentum, earnings, and corporate news-driven narratives with broader market action during the week.
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