AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. rose for an eighth straight session as individual investor desire to trade meme stocks was reawakened.
AMC rose as much as 3.7% to $14.47 at 9:39 a.m. in New York even after traders circulated news that a 17 million share block trade was said to price at $14.20 each. The movie-theater chain’s volatility came as trading volume soared with more than 32 million shares changing hands in the first few minutes, more than double what’s been seen in the past five sessions.
XpresSpa Group Inc., another favorite of Redditors earlier this year, rallied as much as 11% to $1.34 as penny stock Naked Brand Group jumped 3.2% while retailer Express Inc. spiked as much as 8.2%. The strength for some retail-focused companies came after Walmart Inc. boosted its earnings forecast on Americans’ desire to “get out and shop” while Macy’s Inc. also posted bigger-than-expected gains.
Social media has powered the latest gains for AMC, with the hashtag #AMCSqueeze trending over the past week on Twitter, in a call to recreate the heavy retail buying in January that forced investors out of bearish positions.
With more than 32 million shares traded early Tuesday, AMC was the second most active stock that trades at a value greater than $1, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock has soared 56% in the past eight sessions, matching its longest streak of advances since August 2018 and pushing it to a two-month high.
The company has soared as its management embraced individual investors and internet traders after Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron cheered the stock’s resurgence on a quarterly earnings call. The movie-theater chain has continued to rally even after announcing on Thursday that it had raised about $428 million by selling shares.
B. Riley analyst said Friday that the additional cash lowered the need for it to raise even more funds ahead of a rebound for the movie theater industry. CEO Aron said in the statement the money will allow it to better “tackle the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead.”
—With assistance from Drew Singer and Jon Menon.
