AMC Options Traders Jump Into Short Squeeze Potential

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC announced Thursday it had completed its 43-million share at-the-market equity program previously announced April 29. The offering, which took place at an average price of $9.95 per share raised $428 million of equity capital for the company.

This came on top of another social media orchestrated short-squeeze attempt that caused shares of AMC to surge more than 20%.

A number of options traders jumped in on the move and bet over $806,230 shares of AMC Entertainment are headed higher still over the next number of months.

See Also: What's Going On With AMC Entertainment Today?

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

• At 9:45 a.m., Thursday a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 200 AMC Entertainment options with a $30 strike price expiring on January 2023. The trade represented a $60,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.00 per option contract.
• At 10:02 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 250 AMC Entertainment options with a $30 strike price expiring on January 2023. The trade represented a $77,500 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.10 per option contract.
• At 10:06 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 250 AMC Entertainment options with a $9 strike price expiring on May 28. The trade represented a $75,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.00 per option contract.
• At 10:06 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, at the ask, of 260 AMC Entertainment options with a $9 strike price expiring on May 28. The trade represented a $78,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.00 per option contract.
• At 10:38 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 200 AMC Entertainment options with a $30 strike price expiring on January 2023. The trade represented a $70,000 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.50 per option contract.
• At 10:43 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 260 AMC Entertainment options with a $30 strike price expiring on January 2023. The trade represented a $92,300 bullish bet for which the trader paid $3.55 per option contract.
• At 11:19 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 1026 AMC Entertainment options with a $40 strike price expiring on Sept. 17. The trade represented a $148,770 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.45 per option contract.
• At 11:44 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 834 AMC Entertainment options with a $20 strike price expiring on June 18. The trade represented a $95,910 bullish bet for which the trader paid $1.15 per option contract.
• At 11:49 a.m., a trader executed a call sweep, near the ask, of 250 AMC Entertainment options with a $13 strike price expiring on January 21. The trade represented a $108,750 bullish bet for which the trader paid $4.35 per option contract.

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 the 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.

AMC Price Action: Shares of AMC Entertainment were trading up 20.5% to $12.44 at publication time.

See also: How to Buy AMC Stock