AMC shares are trapped in a short time. Shares increase 180%.

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AMC Entertainment Holdings

is trading at a high of 52 weeks on Wednesday, caught in a strange euphoria that affects several shares of demolished companies.

Actions (ticker:

AMC

), among the worst results in the last year, jumped up to 300% in the morning trade and stopped several times due to extreme volatility.

AMC shares have risen 611%, despite the company’s multiple dilutive sales of shares in recent months. Trading volume exceeds 54 million shares, according to FactSet. About 40 million shares are sold in the short term.

AMC is currently trading at about 180%, at about $ 14. Shares rose 105% over the past year, compared to the S&P 500’s 15.8% gain.

But AMC has spent much of the last year on the move. The pandemic forced the largest film operator to close locations or restrict occupancy, killing box office sales. Other movie chains have had to clear up the same issues.

The shares join a small group of companies that have been caught in a strange push between professional short sellers, who hold bearish positions, and retail investors who use Reddit forums and Robinhood accounts to buy and encourage others to do it.

The biggest example, of course, is

GameStop

(GME), the video game retailer whose shares have soared above $ 350.

Bed Bath & Beyond

(BBBY), 30% more on Wednesday,

Blackberry

(BB), 15% more and

Etsy

(ETSY), which falls 3%.

According to MarketWatch, the rise in trade disrupted several online brokers on Wednesday.

AMC has been raising money to cushion it until the pandemic wears off and moviegoers return to theaters with record numbers they made recently in 2019. This week, the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, said in a statement that with $ 917 million raised since mid-December, bankruptcy was off the table.

It had been considered in recent months if the company could not get enough money to survive.

The fact that AMC has sold shares to raise capital may make its high stock price easier to bear, said Eric Wold, an analyst at B. Riley.

“Although the recent movement of AMC shares has been extraordinary, we remain positive in the outlook for the national box office coming out of the pandemic and we believe that the success of management in obtaining enough capital to avoid bankruptcy in the short term term has been clearly positive for investors, ”Wold said De Barron in an email. “And while AMC is still in the process of consolidating its capital structure and liquidity, we would imagine the stock move to be welcomed by the company.”

An AMC spokesman was not immediately available.