GameStop, AMC Entertainment Shares Spike Monday Afternoon: What's Going On?

Original meme stocks GameStop Corp GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC perked up in late trading Monday afternoon on no apparent news. The movement appears to be a continuation from last week’s retail investor momentum.

What To Know: Although GameStop and AMC shares have been trending lower in recent trading sessions, the pair of meme stocks are still up significantly in recent weeks. GameStop shares are up approximately 131% over the last month and AMC shares are up just shy of 43%.

The rally started when Keith Gill, best known as Roaring Kitty, posted a simple meme of a person leaning forward in a chair last week following a three-year absence from social media.

Gill posted a series of videos on YouTube leading up to the historic short squeeze in 2021. When GameStop shares started soaring, the trader began posting updates of his positions on Reddit's r/WallStreetBets. Gill is often credited with sparking the meme stock mania that took place in 2021.

Gill’s return to social media was the fuel for last week’s rally in meme stocks that ultimately resulted in several high short interest names catching bids. He mainly just posted video clips on X throughout the week, but that was enough for retail to run with.

It’s worth noting that Gill hasn’t provided an update on his GameStop investment from 2021, so it’s not clear if he maintains a position. He also hasn’t posted anything on X since the E.T. post he made at the market close on Friday. Some are suggesting the video was meant as a final farewell to social media.

Check This Out: Roaring Kitty Phones Home? GameStop Influencer Goes Silent After ‘E.T.’ Movie Clip Signals Potential Goodbye

Despite the lack of updates from Gill, retail traders are active on social platforms. Both GameStop and AMC were seeing high message volumes on Stocktwits Monday afternoon. The tickers were also among the most mentioned on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets over the last 24 hours.

A lot of the chatter seems to be surrounding Gill’s next potential move. Others are still pointing to the heavy short interest in the meme names, asking other users to buy and hold the pair of stocks in an effort to squeeze short sellers out.

Both GameStop and AMC took advantage of the rapid surge in their shares last week. GameStop announced plans to sell up to 45 million shares and AMC entered into agreements to issue stock in exchange for notes.

GME, AMC Price Action: GameStop shares closed Monday up 4.41% at $23.19 and AMC closed the day up 9.77% at $4.83. Both stocks were trending lower in Monday’s after-hours session at last check, per Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Sergei Tokmakov from Pixabay.