As one of the “meme stocks” made popular by Reddit’s army of dedicated retail traders, AMC has once again sold off a bunch of its hyped-up stock to raise funds. After raising $230 million last week from the sale of 8.5 million shares, AMC has now sold another 11.55 million shares, netting them another $587.4 million.
Following a terrible year for its business, AMC’s stock was languishing around $2 a share at the start of this year, before attracting the attention of the community of retail traders behind GameStop’s meteoric rise. Since then AMC stock has stayed around $50 a share, though AMC’s announcement that it would sell off a large number of shares caused fluctuations between $37.66 and $68.80, Deadline reports. Shares eventually closed at $51.31, down 18%.
AMC has embraced its enthusiastic retail traders, who now make up about 80% of its shareholders. Just last week it announced a suite of benefits for its individual shareholders, including free popcorn and exclusive screenings.
In its filing, AMC said it would use the proceeds from its latest share sale for “general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment, refinancing, redemption or repurchase of existing indebtedness, acquisition of theatre assets, working capital or capital expenditures and other investments.”
The theater chain’s main business is looking up as vaccination numbers rise across the US. In its latest update, AMC said that vaccinated patrons would no longer be required to wear masks at its theaters, unless required by state law.
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