AMC Files ATM Offering, One Day After Roaring Kitty Sparks Meme Stock Frenzy

Not even a day after "meme stock" influencer Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, posted a cryptic image of a 2006 Time magazine cover on X...

pic.twitter.com/tXViICmVFG

— Roaring Kitty (@TheRoaringKitty)

Twitter

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... which sent meme stocks GameStop and AMC Entertainment soaring as the Reddit Army panic bought...

Top AMC executives and their investment bank wasted zero time as liquidity reentered the meme world and filed to sell up to 50 million Class A shares in "at-the-market offerings" as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933. The filing said Goldman Sachs is the sales agent on the ATM.

Shares tumbled as much as 13% in premarket trading following the news—yet another instance of heavily indebted AMC, burdened by $4 billion in long-term debt and hefty interest payments, being forced to continue tapping equity markets to survive (read: here & here).

AMC was hyping up record box office numbers ahead of the filing, with AMC CEO Adam Aron calling the surge in moviegoers a "national phenomenon." 

Press reporting that Americans are pouring into movie theatres this holiday weekend for Moana 2, Wicked and Gladiator II. So many appealing movies in theatres. Smaller titles too like Red One, Conclave and Juror #2. Be part of a national phenomenon. Catch a flick at AMC! pic.twitter.com/yAYnCgov8d

— Adam Aron (@CEOAdam)

Twitter

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There were even silly TikTok ads of oversized Americans munching on junk food - promoting the AMC revival... 

movies are back pic.twitter.com/nADx10i2eE

— legotrillermoth (@legotrillermoth)

Twitter

At the time, we warned, "Any AMC rally on this news should be approached with caution, as the company is burdened by $4 billion in long-term debt and hefty interest payments. This may only suggest that CEO Aron might hit equity markets on any significant pop." 

And that's precisely what top-level AMC execs and Goldman did—pulled the rug out from under mom-and-pop Reddit traders—right before Christmas. 

How long until Gamestop's Ryan Cohen pulls an AMC on Redditors?