What happened
After jumping more than 3.5% yesterday, shares of theater owner AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) were building on those gains Friday morning. As of 11:15 a.m. EDT, AMC shares were up another 1.2%. The moves can most likely be attributed to the company's vocal CEO Adam Aron.
So what
Aron, who uses the Twitter handle @CEOAdam, has gone out of his way to gain favor with the legion of retail traders who made AMC a meme stock this year. Aron posted twice on social media yesterday, talking up the potential success at the box office this weekend, while providing doubters of his company and stock a very direct message: "I say it loud: #CHOKEonTHAT."
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Aron challenged those he called "detractors," saying that with the new James Bond movie opening in U.S. theaters this weekend, he expects a big weekend. He likened it to those detractors playing checkers while AMC is playing chess. But he moved it up a notch with what he hopes is a big box-office weekend, saying "On the weekend that James Bond's No Time to Die opens in the U.S., it feels more like AMC is playing 3-Dimensional Chess."
Aron has been using social media to gain favor with the retail traders who have also used sites like Reddit to drive up shares of his company's stock. With 80% of AMC shareholders now retail investors, Aron has said that he works for them, and hasn't been shy in directly addressing them.
AMC's business has much to live up to in justifying the $20 billion market cap the meme crowd has given it. But Aron has also diversified the use of his theater real estate. He also posted that in addition to the James Bond movie, AMC sites will offer "the second weekend of Venom, the Fury-Wilder heavyweight boxing match live from Las Vegas, and the Metropolitan Opera live from NYC. That my friends is something for everyone!"
It remains to be seen if the added content will bring in the profits needed to hold the stock's current valuation.
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