AMC and the rise of money-hungry meme stocks

Share sales that target small retail investors are gaining popularity as companies seek to cash in on rallies spurred by Reddit-fuelled day traders.

Share sales that target retail traders are reaching new heights of popularity with the rise of money-hungry meme stocks like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. AMC slumped as much as 40% on Thursday after announcing plans for another stock offering this week. This time, it’s an at-the-market offering, which deploys the historically unusual strategy of selling shares directly into the open market – where retail traders had driven a 2,850% runup this year through Wednesday’s close. Express Inc., another day-trader favorite, fell as much as 26% on Thursday after announcing an at-the-market offering of its own. Traditional stock offerings are sold almost entirely to institutional investors, but the rise of retail trading is leading corporate issuers like these to cater their financings to whoever the buyers are.