What happened
The mania associated with AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC -0.76%) stock continued Wednesday, as CEO Adam Aron seems to have embraced the opportunity to utilize the trader community to help the business. Shares jumped again today, trading up more than 28% as of 10 a.m. EDT.
So what
Now that AMC's former owner and largest shareholder, China-based Wanda Group, has virtually exited its stake in the theater operator, the new shareholder base driving the stock frenzy comprises retail investors and traders. AMC CEO Adam Aron is now embracing the opportunity to grow the business with the help of this retail crowd. Today, the company announced a new initiative to specifically engage with retail shareholders with the launch of AMC Investor Connect.
Image source: Getty Images.
The company says the program is "an innovative, proactive communication initiative that will put AMC in direct communication with its extraordinary base of enthusiastic and passionate individual shareholders."
Now what
According to AMC, as of March 11, more than 3.2 million individual investors owned a stake in AMC, representing more than 80% of share ownership. The company plans to use the new platform to directly communicate with this shareholder base, offering exclusive promotions from free popcorn to invitations to special movie screenings.
Aron is clearly attempting to convert interest in the stock into additional business for the company. He said in a statement, "With AMC Investor Connect, that effort in relationship building will continue apace even if our shareholders now number in the millions. After all, these people are the owners of AMC, and I work for them."
With a market cap of $18 billion and additional debt that has accumulated over the past year, AMC will needplenty of additional business to bring the fundamentals in line with the stock price explosion brought by the hysteria.
