With meme stocks taking over Wall Street this year, it's tempting to consider buying one. For example, Blackberry (TSX:BB) has seen its shares soar twice this year. That doesn't make it a great buy though. Instead, David Cohne recommends VMware Inc. (NYSE:VMW), PTC Inc. (NASDAQ:PTC), and Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP).As I’ve mentioned before, 2021 looks to be the year of the meme stock. These stocks have seen their shares soar this year based on trader sentiment in Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets subreddit. For the most part, corporate performance has not played a role in their gains. Instead, it’s all about social media attention.
BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) has been a Reddit favorite this year. The stock spiked 281% from January 4th to January 27th and then imploded shortly thereafter. Recently, the stock trended up again as meme stocks have made a comeback over the past month. BB gained another 90% this month, though the stock has since returned some of those gains. From a fundamental standpoint, I don’t believe BB is a good stock to own right now.
My opinion is backed up by our quantitative POWR Ratings system that has assigned BB an overall grade of D, translating into a Sell rating. As much as I miss my old Blackberry phones, the stock just isn’t a great buy. However, there are software stocks that are definitely worth considering. VMware Inc. (VMW), PTC Inc. (PTC), and Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP) are all rated a Buy and have multiple growth drivers, setting them up for success this year, which is why I am highlighting them below.