Raspberry Pi, the maker of cheap, entry-level computers, is in the midst of a retail investor stock frenzy reminiscent of the glory days of GameStop. Over the past week, shares of the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, have risen almost 50%.
The increase came as a surprise to almost everyone, including CEO Eben Upton, who was on vacation when the sharp rise began.
“People seem to choose us for these apps,” Upton said. Bloomberg. “I don’t know if ‘meme stock’ is an insult or not. There’s obviously a retail element to our shareholder base.”
The shares are currently trading at 402 pence (around US$5.43), having reached a high of 550.5 pence on Wednesday.
The increase came after a post on X by user “aleabitoreddit” promoting the Raspberry Pi as a long-term trade-in. The basis of that case was that AI agents like OpenClaw could drive demand for lower-cost computers. “People are openly buying Raspberry Pis and Apple Mac Minis for OpenClaw/PicoClaw,” they argued, “so revenues should benefit from increased demand.”
The rise of the Raspberry Pi, which sells entry-level devices for as little as $45, comes as the rise of AI is creating a shortage of RAM and memory chips, driving up the price of most consumer electronics (from PCs to TVs).
Stock spikes driven by retail investors don’t always follow the same logical path as other publicly traded companies. Sometimes Reddit investors form a herd at the behest/logic of a user, as was the case with GameStop before it led the meme stock movement. Earnings and profitability are not always factored into investors’ decisions.
However, Raspberry Pi is not a GameStop. The company reported $260 million in revenue in fiscal 2024, along with $63 million in gross profits. In the first half of fiscal 2025, the company posted a gross profit of $33.2 million.