Meme stock AMC posted gains for the second straight day after hitting record lows.
Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. extended gains for a second straight day Friday, giving investors in the original meme stock some respite after sluggish losses.
AMC stock AMC,
It closed the session up 1.8%, breaking a series of recent lows. The movie theater chain posted its biggest profit in more than a month on Thursday, snapping its sixth straight day of losses. The stock price fell for 11 of the last 14 trading days.
Related: AMC’s stock posted its biggest gain in a month after six consecutive days of declines.
Three years ago, AMC went from a beleaguered pandemic victim to a meme stock phenomenon. Fueled by Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, AMC took advantage of the sharp rise in its stock price to enter the equity and debt markets, raising $917 million in January 2021. In 2022, the company launched a special dividend on AMC preferred stock units, and in 2023, it completed the conversion of APEs into AMC common stock along with a 1:10 split of its common stock. The investors who made AMC a meme stock often refer to themselves as ‘Apes’ or ‘Ape Nation.’
In December, AMC completed its latest market share offering, raising approximately $350 million. The move is part of the company’s efforts to reduce its debt burden, which will exceed $5 billion in 2022. The latest stock offering, launched on November 9, repurchased debt, or exchanged debt for equity, and reduced the company’s debt by about $62.3. million dollars, AMC said.
Related: AMC posted another record low close, reflecting the end of its ‘meme stock’ status.
AMC has been buoyed by the popularity of concert movies featuring stars such as Beyoncé and Taylor Swift in recent months, with “Taylor Swift: Eras Tour” breaking box office records since its release on October 12. When discussing AMC’s third-quarter results in November, CEO Adam Aron said the success of these films could pave the way for more concert films to be shown in AMC theaters.
Earlier this month, Aaron expressed the company’s “eternal gratitude” to Swift after the singer-songwriter’s concert film broke another record.
Related: Stocktwits says ‘tired’ investors are contributing to AMC’s stock price decline.
Aron also criticized “prophets of doom” for predicting the company’s demise in 2023 in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on New Year’s Eve. “AMC is still here, still innovating, still blazing a new trail.” he wrote.
AMC’s stock price is down 90.7% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index’s SPX is up 21.8%.
