New York (CNN Business)The meme maniac is back on the stock market with a vengeance.
AMC is up 16% and is currently up 70% in the last five days of trading, while Bed Bath & Beyond is up 40% on Monday, doubling in the past week. That's it. GameStop is up 12% on Monday and is up 30% over the past five days.
What's wrong? All three consumer stocks have a fervent following among retail investors on Reddit and other social media sites.These investors bet on these stocks by shorting them. He hopes to punish professional hedge funds and large institutional investors who are short-sellers, who profit when stock prices fall.
This army of traders has activated on his Reddit to support these so-called memetic stocks, despite serious doubts about the company's fundamentals. All three companies are expected to make losses this year and next.
AMC takes its appreciation of the apes one step further. The company plans to reward shareholders earlier this month with special dividends paid in the form of AMC Preferred Stock Units, a new class of stock that AMC has applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol. announced that there will be "Ape"
AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a press release that the company "rewards and recognizes a passionate and supportive shareholder base." AMC will also issue âI OWN APEâ NFTs exclusively to these investors.
Even if short sellers continue to circulate these memetic stocks, the apes may have the upper hand for now.
AMC's stock has fallen 5% this year. That's not as bad as the market as a whole, and a relatively small loss considering the stock has surged nearly 1,200% in 2021. Bed Bath & Beyond is still down more than 20% year-on-year, despite its recent surge.