AMC Entertainment Shares Rally 6% as Investors Hold On

Shares of AMC Entertainment are rallying nearly 6% today as market bulls take control. Investors have been piling into the meme stock on hopes of squeezing the hedge fund short-sellers for an even bigger payday. Retail investors are betting that sophisticated traders are going to be forced to cover their shorts sooner than later, amplifying the gains for the stock.

AMC is trading at its best levels of the month so far after taking investors on a roller coaster ride over the summer. Still shares of the movie chain remain below their all-time high of about $72, a level that individual investors are betting the stock could not only reclaim but surpass.

Investor FOMO

Investors might also be catching a case of fear-of-missing-out  (FOMO) as the stock price rises. The company is giving investors more and more reasons to like the stock, in addition to wanting to stick it to high-flying hedge funds like Citadel.

Investors recently filed a class-action complaint against Citadel Securities, Robinhood and others for their alleged role in restricting trading in meme stocks such as GameStop early in the year. Citadel has denied any involvement.

AMC on Offense

AMC CEO Adam Aron has been engaged with investors as well as moviegoers on social media. He has been focused on keeping the company on the offensive after a difficult pandemic year. Today Aron took a victory lap, saying that “cinemas are finally on the rebound” based on the latest “movie ticket sales results.”

In the first half of October, U.S. box office theaters generated more than $300 million in  gross sales, representing the best two-week performance since early 2020.

Praise be! October movie ticket sale results show cinemas are finally on the rebound. First two weeks of October “domestic industry box office” grosses are more than $300 million and the biggest 14-day total since February of 2020, some twenty months ago. #TheBigScreenIsBack pic.twitter.com/kKL0JzR3Y5

— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam) October 18, 2021

In addition, AMC’s Aron revealed that the movie chain will begin offering “open caption showtimes each week” across 200 of its U.S. theatres. This means that AMC will be adding more new release movie showings for the hearing impaired and audiences for whom English is not their native language, potentially attracting more moviegoers. The addition of the open caption feature coincides with the opening for Marvel Studios-based superhero movie “Eternals.”

AMC has been making strides with ticket and concession sales since reopening, but the company remains in recovery mode from the health crisis. As part of its offensive, AMC has poured millions of dollars into a marketing campaign featuring Nicole Kidman. The movie chain has also won over crypto investors by announcing support for bitcoin, Dogecoin and other leading cryptocurrencies.