Meme Stock Madness Is Back: GME, AMC Soar Again
Meme stock madness is making a comeback, with all the usual suspects — notably AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond and GameStop — surging in the past few days.
GameStop (GME) shot up 25% on March 28, while AMC Entertainment (AMC) surged 45% and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) was up 16.5%.
The AMC jump was the movie theater stock’s largest daily percentage increase since June 2, 2021, when it rose 95%, according to Barron’s. GameStop’s strong day, meanwhile, extended its recent winning streak to 10 trading sessions, during which shares surged 142%, Barron’s added. However, GME is down about 10% so far this morning.
Meme stocks came to light in 2021, notably with the rise of retail traders active on the subreddit group WallStreetBets, who were intent on taking down hedge fund short sellers by buying shares of stocks that didn’t seem to have much of a chance of success. This movement sent stocks, including GameStop, soaring — and then crashing.
The market frenzy around meme stocks brought the attention of regulators, including Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler.
Some of these companies have since expanded and diversified their core businesses in somewhat unexpected ways.
Earlier this year, GameStop — which reached a somewhat cultlike status as a company — announced it had solidified plans to launch an NFT platform in an effort to turn around its business. Rumors had started in November as to when the launch would be, when the company posted a slew of NFT-platform and Web3 gaming jobs on its career page, as GOBankingRates previously reported.
As for AMC, it bought a stake in precious-metals miner Hycroft Mining Holding for $140 million earlier this month, according to an announcement. CEO Adam Aron also told Reuters in an interview published March 28 that more “transformational” deals were in the works to “capitalize on the interest of retail investors.”
AMC’s stock price is up nearly 60% over the past five days and is remaining steady so far today. Bed Bath and Beyond is up about 10% over the past five days, but 54% over the past month.
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