Is Investing in "The DORKs" a Good Idea Right Now?
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The Motley Fool

Is Investing in "The DORKs" a Good Idea Right Now?

July 27, 2025
02:45 PM
5 min read
AI Enhanced
investmentmoneystockstradingfinancialconsumer discretionaryfinancialsmarket cycles

Key Takeaways

Hoping to profit from a short squeeze is a risky strategy.

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5 min read

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investment

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Published

July 27, 2025

02:45 PM

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The Motley Fool

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Key Topics
investmentmoneystockstradingfinancialconsumer discretionaryfinancialsmarket cycles

Re suggests that This leads to the conclusion that re's a new trend out there

Well, perhaps "newish" is the best way to put it, because to my eyes this is just a recycling of the meme stock fad that swept through the four years ago

That didn't end well for a lot of people, and I have similar expectations for this one

The stocks ing into this trend are known as DORK stocks -- an acronym for the stock tickers of Krispy Kreme (DNUT 2, in today's financial world. 55%), Opendoor nologies (OPEN 4

On the other hand, 34%), Rocket Companies (RKT 0

On the other hand, 71%), and Kohl's (KSS -6, amid market uncertainty

Just as in the meme stock boom of old, some of these companies are seeing wild changes in price and valuation for no good reason

But the trading volume is up as investors' interest is piqued

If the DORK stock name isn't enough to scare you off, then perhaps a closer look at the companies would do it

However -- and I can't stress this enough -- in DORK stocks seems to be a really bad idea

If you're itching to try it, here's what you should know (remarkable data)

Image source: Getty Images

Hype isn't a realistic strategy First, let's take a look at the companies, in today's market environment

Moreover, Krispy Kreme makes great doughnuts, but I'm not willing to say it's a good investment today

Moreover, Opendoor, which operates a digital platform that allows people to sell their houses, is linked closely to Rocket Companies, which allows people to apply for mortgages and manage their money (an important development), in this volatile climate

Kohl's is a struggling big-box clothing retailer (which is quite significant)

On the other hand, Krispy Kreme saw first-quarter revenue drop by 15% from a year ago, and posted a loss of $33

Nevertheless, 4 million and an earnings per loss of $0

Opendoor's Q1 revenue dropped by 2%, to $1. 2 billion, and the company posted a net loss of $85 million

Rocket saw its Q1 revenue drop 25% from a year ago to $1. 03 billion, and posted a loss of $212 million

And Kohl's saw net sales for the first quarter drop 4

Additionally, 1% to $3 billion

Other DORK names, Kohl's was in the red for the quarter, posting a loss of $15 million, in light of current trends

So, the DORK stocks, at least today, are officially losers

In contrast, But there are a few meme-type catalysts that are pushing them into the public eye, such as short interest

Moreover, Rocket and Kohl's both have more than half of their outstanding s shorted, while Opendoor has more than 30%

All of those numbers are incredibly high

DNUT Percent of s Outstanding Short data by YCharts

When investors short a stock, they're betting that the price will go down, so there's a lot of money out there betting that these names will drop

Retail investors can lap up additional s in hope that hedge funds that are betting against a stock will find themselves squeezed and have to sell at a higher price -- similar to the infamous short squeeze of GameStop in 2021 (something worth watching)

We're back to 2021 I know there are lots of retail investors who enjoyed the 2021 meme stock fad that included names GameStop, AMC Entertainment, and BlackBerry, amid market uncertainty

In fact, I wrote pretty stridently against in meme stocks, because I see it as a sure way of losing money over the long term

When you're trading on pure momentum without a solid underlying, you're just asking to lose your money

Furthermore, Some of the DORK stocks are already showing major volatility (noteworthy indeed)

Kohl's, which normally has a trading volume of 13 million s, saw 209 million s traded on July 22, amid market uncertainty

The evidence shows stock price jumped 120% over a two-day period, but has since lost nearly all those gains

Opendoor became hot when a hedge fund manager put a price target of $82 on the stock, which had been struggling to remain at more than $1 and avoid potentially being delisted from the Nasdaq

Additionally, Now Opendoor is up 380% in the last month (although at this writing, it still trades for less than $2

On the other hand, The stock saw massive trading volume of 1. 8 billion s on July 21 and 1 (noteworthy indeed). 07 billion s on July 23

However, (Its average volume is only 164. 8 million s, amid market uncertainty. ) Krispy Kreme's s haven't been as volatile (bably because the short interest is comparatively low), in this volatile climate

But it still had more than 152 million s trade hands on July 23, compared to its average trading day of 8, in light of current trends

Rocket Companies also saw action July 22 and July 23 as more than 51 million s changed hands each day, versus the company's average trading volume of 15. 4 million s

But the reality is that you can't time the market, and many more people lose money than win trades with meme stocks

Because short-term stock prices are a duct of supply and demand, you can't predict how a stock price will move -- and if you guess wrong, you could sustain some big losses

How to invest My advice is to hold back

There are hundreds of better choices than a meme stock, and you should instead be looking for names with good fundamentals, decent fit, and a sustainable model, given the current landscape

But if you are determined to invest in DORK stocks, hedge your bets

On the other hand, Invest responsibly, with only a small part of your portfolio that you are willing to lose

You never want to overplay your hand, particularly with volatile investments -- and those include DORK stocks.