A day after touting how much the release of the new Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick contributed to its strong Memorial Day weekend, AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) was back in familiar meme-stock territory on Wednesday.
AMC (AMC) shares fell more than 10% on the day on no discernible news directly involving the movie-theater chain. AMC (AMC) has acted like a meme stock for the better part of a year, with its share price often engaging in wild swings fueled more often by Internet chatter and short-squeeze activity than the company's actual business dealings.
On May 27, AMC (AMC) shares posted their biggest one-day percentage gain in months, when they rose 18% in advance of the record-breaking weekend for Top Gun: Maverick. AMC (AMC) said Tuesday that with Maverick leading the weekend activity, more than 4 million people went to see a movie at one of its U.S. theaters, and more than 1 million attended a screening at one of the company's international locations.
Along with AMC (AMC), other so-called meme stocks took it on the chin, Wednesday. Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) shares fell 3%, and BlackBerry (BB) ended the day off by more than 5%.
GameStop (GME), considered by many to be the epitome of meme stocks, fell 2.7% on the day prior to reporting its first-quarter results. After U.S. stock markets closed, GameStop (GME) said first-quarter sales rose almost 8% from a year ago, to $1.38B, while its operating loss more than tripled, to $154M.