AMC, GameStop Skyrocketing-Stocks Lead Russell 2000 Value Index To Outperform Growth Counterpart

The massive rally in the stocks of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC and GameStop Corp. GME as of Wednesday has resulted in a 30% year-to-date gain for the Russell 2000 value index, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Dow Jones Market Data.

What Happened: The surge in the two companies’ stocks has enabled the Russell 2000 value index to outperform its growth counterpart - the Russell 2000 growth index — which recorded a gain of just 3.8% through Wednesday, the report noted.

The Russell 2000 index is a widely used index of small-cap stocks — stocks of companies with relatively small market capitalizations.

See also: How to Buy AMC Stock

Video game retailer GameStop was the biggest holding in the $17 billion iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF IWN as of Tuesday, while movie theatre chain AMC Entertainment was the second-biggest holding, according to the WSJ report that cited figures from iShares. At the start of this year, both the stocks were not even ranked in the ETF’s top 300 holdings.

Kevin Silverman, chief investment officer of Sterling Partners Equity Advisors, was quoted by WSJ as saying he expects the two Reddit-favorite stocks to be kicked off the iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF at the next annual rebalancing as they are no longer small-cap value stocks.

Russell is expected to inform investors of changes to the index this Friday, as per the report.

See Also: AMC Shorts Get Smoked And Options Traders Jump In

Why It Matters: The stocks that were the focus of retail investors on Reddit’s forum r/WallStreetBets forum earlier this year are riding another wave higher as these investors attempt a new short squeeze.

The buying frenzy in AMC Entertainment and GameStop continued on Wednesday amid continued interest from retail investors, with AMC Entertainment’s stock soaring 95% in the regular trading session and touching a new 52-week high of $72.62.

In the process, AMC’s market capitalization surged to $28.17 billion and overtook GameStop’s market capitalization of $19.98 billion.

Price Action: AMC Entertainment shares gained 95.2% in Wednesday’s regular trading session to $62.55 and further rose 8.7% in the after-hours session to $68.00.

GameStop shares rose 13.3% in the regular trading session to $282.24.

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