AMC Is Giving Free Popcorn Away To Meme Stonk Investors (theverge.com) 31
AMC announced today that it was creating AMC Investor Connect, "an innovative, proactive communication initiative that will put AMC in direct communication with its extraordinary base of enthusiastic and passionate individual shareholders to keep them up to date about important company information and to provide them with special offers." In other words, the company is embracing the meme stonk investors that have sent AMC shares to new highs. The Verge reports: This represents "a groundbreaking new approach" to communicating with retail investors, the company says. It's a shame they didn't put a bunch of rocket emojis in the announcement -- after all, there's no need to be coy. We all know exactly who AMC is speaking to, and if they sign up today, they're getting free popcorn. This is also, essentially, the opposite of what GameStop did, which was say absolutely nothing. You got the sense that maybe the exec team was nervous that anything they said might potentially be securities fraud. AMC, though, they've elected to really embrace the whole meme thing. I'm hoping there are more announcements where they get meme-ier. Like, retail investors get a free Lego rocket in the fourth quarter or something.
First, thank you idiots. (Score:4, Insightful)
The crazy unreasonable prices for AMC have saved the company.
Basically it WAS going bankrupt. That is why people shorted it. They needed a loan so they sold bonds. Specifically convertible bonds that can convert into stock.
Then the stonk people sent the price to a ridiculous high price. So the convertible bonds were converted, and shares were sold.
Which means AMC no longer is going bankrupt, as they no longer have to pay back that loan they took out.
So we get to keep AMC theaters, thank you lunatic stonk investors.
But lets be honest here, AMC is probably worth at most $20. It got as high as 35 or so back in 2017. It was under $20 before Covid and there is NO way the Covid induced total absence of people actually using AMC facilities made it worth more money.
The current price, over $60 is totally caused by idiots hoping on the bandwagon, thinking somehow that there is still a large short interest in it.
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Re: First, thank you idiots. (Score:2, Insightful)
Which importantly means it's largely short sellers paying for this. Individual investors pushing the squeeze might win or might lose, depending on their timing. But the shorts lose, AMC wins, and the investors get to play roulette.
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Chinese-owned AMC Theatres - what are they up to? (Score:1, Offtopic)
AMC Theatres (US and elsewhere) were bought by a company from the "People's Republic" of China in 2012. The primary play was for influence in Hollywood. Think about that for a minute. But what else?
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It is untrue and makes no sense. Why would a Chinese company buy a theatre owner to get influence in Hollywood? Especially one going out of business?
The Chinese have influence in Hollywood because they're a huge market, and they will dictate what they want to see in movies without spending a dollar.
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Except they're trying to spread their culture to the world. One where dictatorship is the key to happiness and things like freedom and democracy not only don't work, but are bad if you want to run a functioning country.
Hollywood is a far easier way to do that as the major US export is cultural products - movies, TV, music, books, etc. Everyone around the wor
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they don't even need to invade; the pressure to grow has resulting in movies being written and edited for the target market. simply having 1.4 billion potential consumers is more than enough for capitalism to do what's efficient.
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Every Western corporation wants access to the Chinese market, and they're more than happy to play by China's rules.
Yes, the Chinese government is authoritarian, but capitalism does not care because there's money to be made.
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AMC is a public company, genius.
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Ain't capitalism grand. /s
Even grander with "chinese characteristics", as the Party which was in fact built on the idea of capitalists "buying rope" etc. might put it.
Turns out the Wanda Group from the PRC just sold most of its stake in AMC in the last week or two. Thanks for the ingenious news. Wanda apparently made quite a killing on their investment too.
These companies with volatile stock pumps and dumps apparently initiated by Reddit (also significant PRC ownership FWIW - the last time I checked anyway!
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If they sold a couple weeks ago, they lost out on a hilarious amount of money. AMC's stock price tripled last night.
That reddit post aged very badly, haha.
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Already sold at $67. Only made a few thousand, but I am not risking more than 1k on a meme.
Calling people buying in now "popcorn bagholders".
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In the long history of the universe, after we have long since been incinerated by our own stupidity or laziness, they will say it was our sentimentality that ended us. But I say it is the only reason we have lasted this long.
Fix the title (Score:1)
Re:Fix the title (Score:4, Informative)
The title is correct.
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and no popcorn is sounds like...
No snacks for you (Score:2)
Then you don't get any popcorn.
1,275% markup is an lot to give up! (Score:3)
1,275% markup is an lot to give up!
I'm a paperhand (Score:2)
Only take two day gambles buying 100 shares and selling a CC contract. Bought at $50, sold a $60 strike contract for $14.15/share. Obviously this is a $5 stock put I'll ride the meme wave for as long as I can. To the moon!!!!
Subtle Genius (Score:2)
This is smarter than it looks.
In one clever swoop they get people with enough disposable income to buy stock to...
1. Sign up for their mailing list.
2. Sign up for the rewards program.
3. Buy movie tickets.
3. Stop at the theater's #1 profit center to pick up their "free" $0.10 popcorn and buy a few $7 drinks.
It's literally genius.
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AMC ultimately has 2 exit paths besides bankruptcy - now that its no longer Chinese owned, US govt bails it out or Disney/Universal buys them
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AFAIK, a company doesn't need this data to see the makeup of its shareholder base. With the exception of shares held "in street name" they can see the registered owners of shares and number of shares. This is required for e.g. distributing proxy materials. An institution (e.g. A hedge fund or activist investor) trying to hide a large holding has to jump through some hoops to do that.
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Has nothing to do with the stock (Score:1)
meme coin (Score:1)
Opportunity (Score:1)