Beasley Becomes Latest Meme Stock As Share Price Spikes By As Much As 500%.

Shareholders of Beasley Broadcast Group began Wednesday (Dec. 10) with each share of their stock worth less than $6. By the time Nasdaq trading ended, the price of Beasley shares had skyrocketed by as much as 500% with each share worth about $25. It wasn’t an impending deal or a sudden shift in analyst sentiment about Beasley’s operations that resulted in the jump. Instead, Beasley became the latest stock to find itself in meme territory.

A meme stock is a publicly traded company whose share price surges primarily because of online hype — often on Reddit, X, Discord, or TikTok — rather than fundamentals like revenue or earnings. The cycle typically unfolds in waves: retail traders rally around a stock, triggering rapid buying, short squeezes, and extreme volatility that can push valuations far beyond any conventional analysis.

But those same dynamics that lift a meme stock can unwind just as fast. Once sentiment shifts or momentum fades, prices can collapse, leaving late-arriving investors with steep losses. The core risks include unpredictable swings, thin grounding in company performance, coordinated speculation that can exaggerate moves in both directions, and the possibility that liquidity evaporates when enthusiasm dies down.

There’s no fixed timeline for a meme-stock cycle, but most follow a recognizable pattern with a very compressed lifespan compared to traditional market moves from an initial spark to the hype and acceleration phase, before hitting its peak and unwinding. The crash or slow deflation can take days to months, but sharp drops often occur within 72 hours once sentiment turns or influencers move on. Some meme stocks experience aftershocks — secondary spikes triggered by renewed online interest — but even those tend to be short bursts lasting days, not sustained rallies.

Beasley didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

For investors looking to stick around after the meme stock run-up is over, CEO Caroline Beasley said Q4 revenue was pacing down about 20% year-over-year, largely due to the absence of political revenue from 2024. Last month she also told investors on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the company is pushing ahead with a major digital transformation as revenue softness in the traditional ad market continues to pressure results. Beasley said the company is executing a strategy focused on accountability, digital fluency, and sustainable margin growth.