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AMC Entertainment’s shares on Monday were too fast and too furious for short sellers; while Dave & Buster’s stock
PLAY,
mentions on community-investing platforms elicited some skepticism.
The ninth installment of Vin Diesel’s “Fast & Furious” franchise pulled down $70 million over its opening weekend after opting for a theater-only release, potentially marking a major turning point for a film industry that turned to a streaming model during the ravages of the COVID pandemic.
It has been hard to find any group of investors more thrilled by the continuing financial success of the movie franchise, led by fictional hero Dom Toretto and his merry group of Corona-drinking street racers, than retail investors committed to holding shares of AMC.
The Diesel-powered, “F9″ weekend box office helped AMC shares climb as high as 9% Monday, before the stock gave back some of those gains, as investors used the stellar post-pandemic ticket sales as evidence that the reported death of movie theatres has been greatly exaggerated.
“What a weekend for the big screen!” Adam Aron, the increasingly social media-savvy chief executive of AMC tweeted Monday morning.
Aron’s tweet, to which he attached an image of an “F9” poster featuring the films’s star-studded cast, went on to credit “F9”s “gangbuster opening” with bringing 2 million Americans into AMC’s theatres over the weekend and 2.5 million globally.
“Both RECORD NUMBERS since re-opening our theatres,” Aron declared.
Aron, who has made a habit of engaging directly with AMC’s individual investor fan base, offering free popcorn and other perks to AMC HODLers, aka long-term holders, definitely got a response from the Reddit crowd.
“I did a Capitalism,” responded Rhino57 to a post of Aron’s tweet on Reddit board AMCStock. “I went and supported AMC this weekend after market close on Friday and got the biggest tub of popcorn they had!”
While Aron’s tweet also elicited some complaints that a resurgent summer box office should delay his plan to sell 25 million new shares, Redditors would be pleased to see that “F9”s success had little effect on short sellers.
According to Fintel data, the stock remains in the top 200 short-squeeze targets of the almost 9,000 companies tracked by the site. Even the addition of pro wrestler turned movie star John Cena to the franchise didn’t spook the shorts as AMC’s short interest remained at 29.87%, identical to Friday.
Pleased to see AMC short sellers, those betting for a fall in value of the company’s shares, right where they claim to want them, one individual investor indulged in film criticism of “F9” to lay out their case for AMC’s #hotstocksummer.
“Just imagine what would have happened if it was actually a good movie too,” mused Data_Dealer, speculating that the return of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the knockout punch: “Black Widow should do record numbers period, not record COVID numbers.”
AMC’s spiritual meme twin also had a positive day. GameStop
GME,
shares closed up on the day despite a decision from Baird to cease coverage, with analyst Colin Sebastian writing in a note that the company’s lack of clear plan and lack of fundamental impetus have made it too difficult for him to give “a reasonable stock rating recommendation to institutional investors.”
Meanwhile, like a lonely 20-something with a hankering for blue drinks, Buffalo wings and a nasty Big Buck Hunter addiction, retail investors also were obsessing over Dave & Buster’s…or at least someone wanted it to look that way.
Shares in the sports bar-cum-video arcade restaurant chain were a very hot topic on Reddit boards Monday, with mentions of the ticker symbol PLAY soaring 26,700% according to HypeEquity, and trading volume had already exceeded its daily average, two hours before the closing bell.
But even with that action, Dave & Buster’s stock ended 0.7% lower. This comes as Reddit arguments touting the chain as a cheap re-opening trade target were met with skepticism by users who saw the sudden burst of interest as evidence of a possible pump-and-dump scheme, rather than a bona fide meme-inspired gambit.
There was no real news around the restaurant chain on Monday, and short interest on the stock remained minimal. Additionally, the flurry of Reddit posts promoting the stock appeared on multiple subreddits, creating what appeared to be a false surge in popularity.
Backing up that skepticism was the fact that 2 of the top 5 keywords associated with Dave & Buster’s posts were “Pump” and “Dump.”
“Getting kinda bored with the fake management shilling has-been stocks, just for a little more pump before they dump,” complained TheColorlessPill on Reddit. “Just more evidence that [WallStreetBets] has been bought out.”
