(Bloomberg) -- AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.’s preferred stock made its debut Monday amid a selloff in other meme stocks and the broader market, making for a volatile day, with trading halted several times after the open.
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Shareholders of AMC, though, are sitting on a profit since Friday’s close: While the movie theater company’s common stock fell as much as 40% in early trading, an investor who ended last week with one share of common stock priced at $18.02 now has that share -- which last changed hands around $11.72 -- plus one share of preferred at about $9.49. Total value: $21.21.
AMC issued a dividend after Friday’s close of one preferred equity unit for each share of the common, in effect putting in place a 2-for-1 stock split. The preferred shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the “APE” symbol, a term Reddit users coined to refer to others who are bullish on so-called meme stocks.
AMC Entertainment sank 26% last week amid a selloff in meme stocks after Bed Bath & Beyond’s top investor Ryan Cohen disclosed that he was selling his stake in the home goods retailer. The activist investor went on to dump his entire stake and pocketed $68.1 million in profits, triggering the stock’s biggest intraday percentage decline ever on Friday.
For AMC, the preferred stock would be convertible to AMC shares if authorized by the company and investors. Investors pushed back on an effort to issue 25 million new shares last year.
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