Both GameStop and AMC shares continue to rally as the US market opens on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
Both stocks were part of the meme-powered short squeezes that took place during the pandemic, where social media users—Redditors in particular—boosted the stock of the two ailing companies after observing dramatic short interests.
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With GameStop, for example, users noticed the stock’s short interest had exceeded 100%, meaning it was shorted more than the number of shares available.
Since 2021, however, the stocks have been on a steady decline. GameStop’s shares peaked on January 29, 2021, at $81.25. On April 26 this year, the stock had retreated to $10.42.
Similarly, AMC peaked at $230.68 on June 18, 2021, before tumbling all the way down to $3.41 on April 26, 2024. This was even lower than its pre-short squeeze low of $8.25.
However, earlier this spring, indications began to show that another turn in the meme stock go around was on its way. With the bombastic Wall Street debuts of chronically online IPOs such as Reddit and Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the company behind Trump’s conservative social media platform, Truth Social, the early signs of a reemergence of the meme stocks began to appear.
As we entered May, GameStop slowly began to climb again. With the return of Keith Gill, a ‘meme stock influencer’ and driving force behind the original GameStop short squeeze, to X on Monday, GameStop shares leaped 40% in pre-market trading and surged throughout the day.
And where GameStop leads, AMC, it seems, follows. On Monday, the movie theater chain’s stock suddenly jumped, mirroring its video game store counterpart
As of 11 AM, Tuesday, AMC’s stock is up 63.18% for the day and 53.60% for the year.
GameStop’s stock is up 72.33% for the day and 215.30% for the year.
