AMC says it's open to a gaming partnership with fellow meme-stock darling GameStop
- AMC is eyeing a gaming partnership with GameStop after shareholders showed interest in the idea, CEO Adam Aron said Monday.
- "We're willing. We have not reached out to GameStop yet, but we intend to do so," he said on an earnings call.
- Movie-theater giant AMC and video-game retailer GameStop were both targets in the meme-stock trading frenzy this year.
AMC Entertainment is considering a tie-up with fellow Reddit favorite GameStop after being quizzed by shareholders about a potential partnership, CEO Adam Aron said on an earnings call Monday.
"I don't even think I can count the number of times people have asked me if we could partner with GameStop," he said, according to a transcript of the call. "We're certainly willing to do so."
Attendees on the conference call asked whether AMC, the world's largest movie-theater operator, would ally with the video-game retailer to run gaming competitions shown on the big screen.
"It takes two to tango," Aron said. "We're willing. We have not reached out to GameStop yet, but we intend to do so."
AMC is on the case, and more developments may yet transpire, he added. GameStop didn't immediately respond to an Insider request for comment.
Aron was speaking after AMC released second-quarter earnings, which beat revenue estimates with audiences returning to movie theaters as COVID restrictions eased. Revenue for the meme-stock favorite rose 19% to $444.7 million in the quarter that ended June 30 compared with the previous year, smashing the $382.1 million estimate of analysts polled by Refinitiv.
By the end of 2021, the theater operator plans to accept bitcoin as payment for movie tickets and concessions at its US locations. "Many of our new shareholders also are quite enthusiastic about cryptocurrency," Aron said on the call.
GameStop, the original meme stock, surged in price in January as retail traders banded together to buy it as part of an anti-establishment movement. In an echo of that trading frenzy, the WallStreetBets community triggered a short squeeze on AMC, among the market's most-heavily shorted stocks.
AMC's market cap nearly doubled in June to above $30 billion, worth nearly eight times its pre-pandemic high. This was seen as a bizarre valuation for a company that was looking to avoid bankruptcy only earlier this year.
Short-sellers betting against AMC lost $2.8 billion in just one day as its stock price soared 127% in June.
AMC stock is currently much lower than its June high, but still up 1,500% so far this year. It was last trading 10% higher in Tuesday's pre-market session at $37.08 per share as of 5:45 a.m. ET.