AMC shares soar as theater chain offers free popcorn to meme stock investors – By Oscar Gonzalez (CNET) / June 2 2021
Traders are anticipating a big summer for movie theaters.
Movie theater chain AMC saw its stock price skyrocket by more than 90% on Wednesday, sparking memories of GameStop’s meteoric rise back in January. A potent combination of factors — anticipation of the upcoming summer blockbuster season, a big move by one hedge fund, and a new program from AMC to give free popcorn and other perks to traders — has the stock market shaking with trades for the movie theater company.
AMC’s stock price opened on Wednesday at $37.52, a significant increase from its price of $9.71 on May 3. Traders on the WallStreetBets subreddit — who were responsible for the record high GameStop stock price only a few months ago — were all in with the movie theater company as news came out that people betting against the stock, known as short sellers, had lost more than $1 billion. One hedge fund, Mudrick Capital, did the opposite by buying $230 million worth of shares of AMC on Friday and then selling them Wednesday for a hefty profit.
