What happened
Shares of AMC Entertainment (AMC -0.32%) and GameStop (GME 2.90%) were tumbling more than 10% lower in morning trading on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 710 points, or about 2.3%, at 10:35 a.m. ET on inflation fears. The S&P 500 had fallen over 430 points, or nearly 4.4%.
So what
There was no company-specific news to spark the sell-off in their shares. AMC arguably had good news, as Top Gun: Maverick had another strong weekend, bringing in $50 million, while Jurassic World Dominion opened with a $143 million box office.
For GameStop, the most visible sign of its turnaround effort has been the launch of a branded non-fungible token (NFT) wallet ahead of the debut of an NFT marketplace later this year. But the cryptocurrency market is in free fall, with the price of Bitcoin plunging below $23,000, its lowest level since the end of 2020.
Last year saw NFTs burst on the scene in a big way, with sky-high prices for digital art and artifacts, but the market is being pulled down by crypto's collapse, and trading volumes have fallen sharply lower.
Now what
Both meme stocks are supported by a large army of retail investors who insist their shares are being held down by monied interests. Some of the loudest on online message boards insist they are not selling their shares and will outlast the short-sellers.
But the stocks of AMC and GameStop continue to erode in value and have lost 83% and 54%, respectively, since reaching their 52-week highs.
