Josh Brown On Recent Surge In AMC Entertainment, GameStop, 'Good Outcomes' For The Companies

The phrase "meme stocks" is somewhat disrespectful, Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown said Friday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

GameStop Corp GME has 17,000 full- or part-time employees and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC has over 1,000 theaters in which it sees over 250 million Americans in attendance over a one-year period, Brown said. 

These aren't "meme" companies, but rather real companies, he said, adding that AMC Entertainment can be considered a reopening play. 

Although there is a lot of speculation around these stocks, there are also fans of the companies who want to invest in them, Brown told CNBC. 

Being on Reddit and being a serious investor aren't mutually exclusive, he said. 

Brown said he's unsure whether the speculation in the stocks will "trump the fundamentals.

In the case of AMC Entertainment, CEO Adam Aron has embraced the enthusiasm and used the surge in share price to improve the company's fundamental story, Brown said. 

"There are real-life outcomes stemming from this speculation that we're all mocking that are actually good outcomes for these businesses," he told CNBC. 

Investors in these stocks are owed a little bit more respect than what financial media is giving them, he told CNBC. 

See Also: AMC & GME are Not the Only Reddit Penny Stocks to Buy According to Top Wall Street Analysts

AMC, GME Price Action: AMC Entertainment traded as high as $36.72 and as low as $1.91 over a 52-week period. 

GameStop traded as high as $483 and as low as $3.77 over a 52-week period.

At last check Friday, AMC Entertainment was down 2.07% at $25.97 and GameStop was down 11.52% at $224.85. 

Photo by jeff_golden from Flickr.