AMC Share Price: Meme massacre, streaming strive, set to further hit stock

Update July 12: AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE: AMC) is set to extend its drop on Monday, tumbling by another 4% to hit $44.12, according to premarket data. Shares of the movie theater company are being carried lower by the "meme massacre" that equities such as GameStop are also suffering from. As described below, the trend in the film industry is to release movies to streaming and television earlier than beforehand – or often at the same time as these hits hit the big screen. The closing of the "windowing" process may curb AMC's profits. 

NYSE:AMC took meme investors for a ride on Thursday, as shares tumbled in the morning but surged into the closing bell. AMC closed the day higher, gaining 6.37%, ending the session at $47.94. The stock continued to trade higher in after hours trading, as AMC climbed a further 2.45% at the time of this writing. Retail investors are used to these wild swings from meme stocks, which have displayed massive volatility throughout 2021. 

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The reason that AMC fell in the morning was a report that Universal Studios will be releasing its new movie releases on its Peacock streaming platform, within four months of their theatrical release. Universal Studios, which is owned by Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) says this new release schedule will begin in 2022. The announcement comes after studio giant Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) reported that it will also be releasing many of its new titles through its Disney+ streaming service, with some even appearing simultaneously to the theatrical release. The four months given by Universal Studios means that theaters like AMC will have an even smaller window for ticket sales, and may lose some movie goers altogether. 

AMC stock forecast

AMC was joined by its fellow meme stocks on Thursday, as several others bucked the recent bearish trend as well. GameStop (NYSE:GME) gained 0.38%, BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) added 0.79%, and ContextLogic (NASDAQ:WISH) finished the session 0.46% higher, outpacing the broader markets, and ending their recent losing streaks. Overall the meme stocks have lost much of the momentum they held in early June, with the general sentiment remaining bearish despite Thursday’s reversal.