AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC 8.23%) stock skyrocketed 95% on Wednesday to close at roughly $62.55 per share after the company published an update for shareholders and unveiled a new outreach initiative for retail investors. CEO Adam Aron appears to be leaning into the company's "meme stock" status and is actively trying to court retail investors.
Excitement surrounding AMC Investor Connect, which offers perks including free popcorn and communication with Aron, helped drive the stock to an all-time high and its market capitalization to a record $33 billion. AMC's explosive jump appears to have also triggered big gains for other meme stocks, including Bed Bath & Beyond and BlackBerry.
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Prior to Wednesday's incredible gains, AMC announced it had sold 8.5 million new shares to Mudrick Capital Management. It looks like Aron is taking advantage of the stock's recent fortunes, as the company has since filed to sell 11 million additional new shares. The AMC team appears to be taking a page from GameStop's (GME -3.94%) recent playbook -- and pushing it to a new level.
GameStop has seen its fortunes significantly improve thanks to its meme stock status. Capitalizing on explosive gains for its share price, the company opted to conduct a new share offering that raised roughly $551 million and wiped out its debt. This put the video game retailer in better position to carry out its e-commerce pivot, and AMC appears to be pursuing a similar strategy.
Roughly a day removed from its announcement, AMC Investor Connect seems to be an enormous success, but the long-term implications are much less clear. The meme stock phenomenon is still uncharted territory for the market, and some investors and analysts have voiced concerns that AMC's recent surge has the makings of a "pump and dump."
