The meme stock world is buzzing today and for good reason. Throughout the pandemic, many investors were speculating about the future of movie theaters. Could direct-to-streaming movie releases result in a world without cinemas?
This week brought some exciting news on that front, though, as AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) enjoyed the record-setting release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. As a result, social media has been abuzz as both AMC and fellow meme favorite GameStop (NYSE:GME) have shot up. While there are other factors pushing GME stock upward, this is likely the most exciting one for meme stock investors.
What’s Happening with GME Stock
Despite a slight slip within the first hour of trading this morning, GME stock has been rising since. Shares ended up closing out the day higher by 7.6%.
Things have been even better today for AMC, which closed up 19%. There’s no mystery as to why. As InvestorPlace Assistant Financial News Writer Shrey Dua reported, Spider-Man: No Way Home captured the highest December opening night audience in the history of the company, specifically 1.1 million viewers.
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— Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) December 17, 2021
In addition, other factors are helping drive GME stop’s current momentum. Social media rejoiced today as Ryan Cohen, the founder of popular pet supply company Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) and chairman of GameStop, returned to Twitter. Though his tweet contained only one emoji, that was all it took for the platform to begin buzzing about the icon’s message.
Why It Matters
It’s not hard to recognize this as the classic meme stock rally that it is. It’s also not unexpected.
Additionally, AMC picked a good time to incorporate non-fungible tokens, coordinating with the film’s release at a time when the eyes of the nation would be on its screens and its stock price would be increasing.
This was good news for both companies. It’s well known that when one of the popular meme stocks rises, others rise with it.
It’s also worth noting that GME stock recently received more positive coverage when a CNBC broadcast highlighted the positive market outlook for both short squeezes and meme stocks that investors can expect to see as markets move into 2022. As a common short squeeze favorite, this type of coverage tends to help GameStop while also igniting traction on forums such as r/WallStreetBets.
What It Means
It’s been a difficult month for plenty of companies but things are looking up for these popular meme stocks as 2021 winds to a close. The bottom line? AMC customers suggest that Spider-Man: No Way Home is worth watching, and GME and AMC stocks certainly are.
On the date of publication, Samuel O’Brient did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
