AMC soars 29% as the theater chain prepares to reopen locations in California
- AMC shares surged 29% on Monday ahead of the company's reopening of California locations.
- The Los Angeles flagships - AMC Burbank 16 and AMC Century City 15 - will show movies Monday afternoon.
- AMC will reopen more Los Angeles theaters starting March 19.
AMC shares sharply advanced Monday, extending this year's stunning run higher as the movie chain will begin reopening theaters in California.
Investors pushed the shares up ahead of the Monday afternoon reopening of two of the company's flagship locations in Los Angeles: AMC Burbank 16 and AMC Century City 15. AMC and other leisure companies last year closed locations worldwide to curb the spread of COVID-19.
AMC stock rocketed up 29% to as high as $14.37 before paring the rise to 19%. The shares this year have surged by roughly 330% from a little more than $2 each.
"To put the magnitude of Los Angeles reopening in perspective, as a movie market, the L.A. [Designated Market Area] is about double the size of the New York City market, which just finished last weekend as the No. 1 DMA in our circuit for box office," said Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC, in a statement Friday.
The company's remaining 23 locations in Los Angeles County will reopen beginning on March 19. AMC also said it is preparing to open the doors to all of its 56 locations in California starting March 19.
AMC has become a popular stock among investors on the Reddit social media platform along with video game retailer GameStop.
The move for California theaters will follow New York City where movie theaters began partially reopening on March 5.