Loan Depot Shares Soar amid Wall Street Bets optimism

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LoanDepot shares soar as it gathers retail interest

Shares of the struggling mortgage originator have more than doubled in the last month.

9/17/25 11:32AM

Small-cap mortgage originator LoanDepot jumped more than 9% Wednesday amid continuing enthusiastic chatter on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets and explosive call buying in the shares that suggest the stock has become a new retail favorite.

Perhaps buoyed by the recent performance of Opendoor Technologies, traders are buying the stock, at least ostensibly, on a belief that the widely expected rate cuts the Federal Reserve is set to deliver this afternoon would lift the shares.

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Perhaps. Though it’s not a sure thing that the Fed’s cuts of short-term interest rates will actually reduce mortgage rates, as they’re determined by longer-term bond yields like the 10-year Treasury note, which are more heavily influenced by the market than the Fed.

Whether or not it’s a sound thesis, it was apparently reason enough for traders to take the stock “in hand,” as market wags might have said in the 1920s. Buying of LoanDepot calls, a favorite technique of r/WallStreetBets-influenced traders, has surged in recent days.

And the stock is on a tear, up more than 150% over the last month alone. That’s clearly not the market discounting soaring growth for the company in the near term. (Sales are actually expected to shrink this quarter, according to the four analysts who post such estimates on the stock.)

But given the psychology in this market, that’s beside the point.

So did you miss the boat? Impossible to say. But the trajectory of Opendoor — up a moderate 1,700% over the last three months — suggests there could be more juice to squeeze. (Not investment advice!)

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Plug Power jumps amid surge in call activity as CEO Andy Marsh hosts AMA

Plug Power surged on Thursday, jumping nearly 17% amid elevated call activity as outgoing CEO Andy Marsh hosted an “ask me anything” on the r/plugpowerstock subreddit.

192,581 call options changed hands, more than four times the 20-day average — call options with a strike price of $4 that expire in mid June were the most active contract.

Marsh’s appearance was aimed at building support for the board’s recommendations that their investors vote in favor of three proposals at a special meeting of shareholders slated for next week. These proposals include: allowing votes to be decided by a majority of voters rather than a majority of shareholders, enabling an increase in the company’s share count, and a third measure to delay this special meeting in the event that there aren’t enough votes for either of those two proposals to pass.

During the session, Marsh made the following points:

Management really doesn’t want to have to do a reverse stock split, but would feel forced to do so if proposal two fails to pass. Per a recent filing from Plug, “Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy.”
Plug plans to lean even more into opportunities to offer power to AI data center customers, with Marsh writing that incoming CEO Jose Luis Crespo will offer more details on this at a follow-up AMA scheduled for March.

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Meta shares rally as Jefferies says it’s a bargain relative to Mag 7 peers

Shares of Meta rallied over 5% today, as Jefferies analyst Brent Thill doubled down on his buy rating for the company, calling the stock a relative bargain compared to its Magnificent 7 peers. The analyst set a price target of $910, well above the $645 where the stock is trading today.

News out of Davos this week that Meta’s first models from its revamped AI teams are “very good” align with Thill’s argument that the company is well positioned to get back in the AI race with the “all-star model,” which is expected to be released in the first half of the year.

Recent cuts to its Reality Labs also signal that the company is focusing its spending where it matters. The Jefferies note also said the recent monetization of Threads via ads will help boost revenue.

Next week, Meta reports its fourth-quarter earnings, and Thill expects that even if Meta raises its 2026 capex outlook, investors won’t be spooked, as the company has been clear that spending may continue to be high.

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Arista Networks rips higher amid jump in call buying

Arista Networks, a maker of switches and other networking equipment used in AI data centers, was on track for its best day of the new year on Thursday as options traders went bullish on the stock.

As of around 11 a.m. ET, there was nearly twice as much call buying in Arista than its 10-day moving average for a full day of activity. Buying call options to make leveraged bets on price increases has been a favorite trading tactic of retail traders in recent years.

Otherwise, there weren’t clear headlines tied to today’s outsized move, but the stock has been getting attention lately: in a note published earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analysts spotlighted Arista as a top tactical trade for earnings season, saying the shares — which they rate a “buy” — could rise 20% over the next year.

“ANET is well positioned amidst ongoing data center spending growth, where its position as a best of breed provider of networking equipment should advantage the company, particularly as data center networks become increasingly complex,” Goldman analysts wrote in the January 8 report.

And recent reports also say Microsoft — which accounted for 20% of Arista’s revenue in 2024, according to Goldman Sachs — is planning a massive expansion of its Wisconsin data center project.

Arista stock did get a lift following the release of solid US economic numbers at 8:30 a.m. that seemed fairly specific to Arista itself. (There was no similar bounce from competitors like Cisco or Hewlett-Packard.)

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