A 42-year-old electronic technician says he made $8,000 betting on bankrupt Hertz after God told him to invest

• A 42-year-old electronic technician made about $8,000 from his Hertz Investment, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• "God told me to put money into Hertz," he said. "I know it sounds crazy."
• Hertz emerged from bankruptcy this month after filing for Chapter 11 last year.

Hertz, one of the original meme stocks, was thought by many to be worthless when it filed for bankruptcy at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Yet, the stock saw a surge of popularity among retail investors, who piled into the shares which the company itself said could go to zero.

Investors on forums like Reddit's Wall Street Bets often say they choose to trust their instincts more than fundamentals when it comes to stock picking, which is exactly what a 42-year-old electronic technician from Glenwood, Illinois did, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal Thursday.

Damien Roscoe, a 42 year-old electronic technician, told The Journal that he made about $8,000 in profits from buying Hertz this spring.

"God told me to put money into Hertz," Roscoe said. "I know it sounds crazy."

Before it finalizing a restructuring that does in fact pay some shareholders back, the company in March detailed reorganization plan that revealed shareholders will get nothing.

"Everyone was, 'Y'all are stupid for buying stock in a bankrupt company,'" Roscoe told The Journal. "But driving around … I just believed in it."

However, on May 12, shares of Hertz surged after the car rental company accepted a $6 billion takeover bid that would give shareholders a rare payout. Hertz reversed course and is looking to exit bankruptcy at the end of June.

The stock has nearly tripled in value in May.

Roscoe's experience is part of a larger trend of retail investors betting big on these so-called meme stocks, often with little more than a gut feeling that their investment will perform. And after a wild start to the year for many stocks backed by Reddit traders, the meme-stock trade is making a comeback.

AMC has doubled its value in just four days, while Reddit favorite GameStop has also surged on renewed retail enthusiasm this week. The move has been so sharp that institutional players are warning against shorting the names.

"The first thing you don't do is you don't short these stocks," Joe Terranova, senior managing director at Virtus Investment Partner, said in an interview with CNBC Thursday morning.