Jim Cramer Is Retiring Apes For Good: His On-Again, Off-Again Relationship With AMC Investors

CNBC host and television personality Jim Cramer has not shied away from sharing hot takes on television or in recent years on social media. After a love-hate relationship, Cramer is throwing in the towel on mentioning the investors and followers of a well-known retail trader favorite.

What Happened: After formerly praising the turnaround story of movie theater company AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC, Cramer has turned bearish on the name in recent months.

The bearishness from the CNBC host has turned into using his Twitter Inc TWTR account to bash the “Apes,” a name given to AMC investors and a movement started by many of the investors.

“I know the apes feel hurt when I don’t retweet their gibberish but they grow smaller by the day and more pathetic so I am going to see if they can morph into index fund buyers,” Cramer tweeted. “They were such fun for so long, but I am retiring them for good.”

One user responded to Cramer highlighting the popular mantra of Apes not leaving, which prompted a reply from Cramer calling Apes an endangered species. 

“Nah, apes are still here and they still getting to you old man. #APESNVERLEAVING there’s hashtag for a reason. Can’t retire the #AMCAPES,” the user said.

Cramer’s comment on retiring them could mean he’s trying to get AMC investors to sell the stock and put their money elsewhere.

The comment likely doesn’t mean Cramer will stop tweeting about AMC or “Apes,” as he tweeted two subsequent times Thursday after his retiring tweet about apes.

“Many of the apes secretly contact me for help and I am always able to lend a hand discovering 500 good stocks in a basket instead of just a movie chain and a Quest stop. Who loves you, baby!” Cramer tweeted.

The tweet mentioning 500 good stocks likely references the S&P 500, a widely used index that is tracked with the popular SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY.

On Thursday night, Cramer once again mentioned apes, the group of people he is retiring.

“Some opportunities tonight and an explanation of Wall Street doublespeak…No apes please.”

The tweet from Cramer was met with replies from owners of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs.

Related Link: 'Stonk People Have Overstayed Their Welcome': Why Jim Cramer Is Lashing Out At Dave Portnoy 

Why It’s Important: The tweets from Cramer follow a series of posts this week about investors in AMC and GameStop Corp GME needing to leave the market and stop blaming him for the price of the stocks falling.

“It is time you go back to a real job and tell your mommies!!!” Cramer tweeted.

Last year, Cramer publicly supported AMC, celebrating the successful turnaround of the company under CEO Adam Aron. Cramer and Aron even exchanged pleasantries on Twitter.

Thank you my good friend, @CEOAdam https://t.co/MtyAqV3HaI

— Jim Cramer (@jimcramer) May 27, 2021

“He’s basically just daring people to short him. Who do they think they are to bet against Adam Aron?” Cramer previously said.

Cramer said in October 2021 that the valuation of AMC “makes sense” when shares were trading for over $35.

“Adam Aron is playing offense…don’t go against Adam Aron.”

Cramer previously applauded WallStreetBets and retail traders for being “on the same page” when it came to being bullish on AMC.

“I am thrilled that my friends at WallStreetBets are so kind to me.”

This isn’t the first time Cramer has changed his mind on a stock or gone from bull to bear. The public call out of Apes likely won’t sit well with the AMC crowd and time will tell if Cramer completely stops mentioning the retail investors.

AMC Price Action: AMC shares are down 8.84% to $15.47 on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Created with images from Brecht Bug and  Scott Beale on Flickr