Shares of movie theater operator AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
AMC,
shot up 14.5% on heavy volume in midday trading Thursday, and has already been halted once for volatility. Trading volume swelled to 38.8 million shares, already well more than the full-day average of about 23.9 million shares. The stock was halted for volatility at 11:22 a.m. Eastern, when it was trading up 19.2% at $8.62, then surged even further to an intraday high of $8.97 (up 24.1%), which was the highest price seen since Sept. 20, before paring gains. The stock was actually down 0.3% at an intraday low of $7.21 a little after the open. Meanwhile, the AMC Preferred Equity Units
APE,
rallied 10.6%. And among other meme stocks, shares of videogame retailer GameStop Corp.
GME,
tacked on 1.4%, but was up as much as 4.9% earlier, while home goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
BBBY,
climbed 10.9%, just off an earlier gain of as much as 12.6%. The meme stocks’ gains bucked the weakness in the broader stock market, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
shed 301 points, or 0.9%, and the S&P 500
SPX,
slipped 0.2%.
Credit: marketwatch.com