AMC’s stock price sailed upward Wednesday, growing more than 95 percent in a day to close at $62.55 a share, an all-time high. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading of AMC twice to calm volatility. As with Gamestop earlier this year, AMC saw institutional investors bet against it—the theater chain’s business tanked during the coronavirus pandemic—and meme stock buyers on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets spring for the stock in retaliation. AMC, which is the largest theater chain in the world, said in a statement that it would offer its new base of enthusiastic individual investors a free large popcorn at their first summer movie screening.
