AMC Shorts Get Smoked And Options Traders Jump In

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC made another new all-time high on Wednesday, but this time by a mile, soaring over 80% at one point, above its previous all-time high of $36.76.

Options traders piled into AMC and purchased hundreds of call contracts totaling tens of millions of dollars. Over the past few days, institutions have written contracts with strike prices as high as $73 and purchased large orders of the far out-the-money calls. Also notably, one institution purchased a single call order with a $40 strike price expiring on June 18 for over $7 million.

See also: How to Buy AMC Stock

Why It’s Important: When a sweep order occurs, it indicates the trader wanted to get into a position quickly and is anticipating an imminent large move in stock price. A sweeper pays market price for the call option instead of placing a bid, which sweeps the order book of multiple exchanges to fill the order immediately.

These types of call option orders are usually made by institutions, and retail investors can find watching for sweepers useful because it indicates “smart money” has entered into a position.

See Also: Own AMC Shares? Get Rewarded With A Free Popcorn Under New Investor Connect Program

The AMC Entertainment Option Trades: Below is a look at the notable options alerts, courtesy of Benzinga Pro:

• At 12:10 p.m., Wednesday a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 208 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $40 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $410,176 bullish bet for which the trader paid $19.72 per option contract.
• At 12:12 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 224 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $40 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $299,712 bullish bet for which the trader paid $13.38 per option contract.
• At 12:12 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 3550 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $40 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $7.02 million bullish bet for which the trader paid $19.80 per option contract.
• At 12:13 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 327 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $25 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $817,500 bullish bet for which the trader paid $25.00 per option contract.
• At 12:17 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 262 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $70 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $119,210 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4.55 per option contract.
• At 12:17 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 608 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $40 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $1.24 million bullish bet for which the trader paid $20.48 per option contract.
• At 12:18 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 366 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $50 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $365,268 bullish bet for which the trader paid $9.98 per option contract.
• At 12:18 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1448 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $40 expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $3.32 million bullish bet for which the trader paid $22.96 per option contract.
• At 12:19 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 235 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $70 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $140,060 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.96 per option contract.
• At 12:19 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 516 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $73 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $278,124 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.39 per option contract.
• At 12:21 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 401 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $73 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $226,164 bullish bet for which the trader paid $5.64 per option contract.
• At 12:22 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, above the ask, of 206 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $25 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $127,514 bullish bet for which the trader paid $6.19 per option contract.
• At 12:24 p.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 701 AMC Entertainment options with a strike price of $68 expiring on June 4. The trade represented a $729,040 bullish bet for which the trader paid $10.40 per option contract.

AMC Price Action: Shares of AMC Entertainment were trading up 101% to $64.56.