Is the sun shining again on AMC stock?

As the old adage goes, good things come to those who wait. This might come true for movie theatre operator AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. which has been left beleaguered due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to the mighty actions of Reddit users, AMC stock spiked as high as 18% on Wednesday.

The COVID-19 crisis has left a huge dent on revenues earned by the media and entertainment industry worldwide. According to Omdia’s ‘Movie Windows: Adapting for the future’ report, box office revenue dipped below $13 billion for the first time in two decades, forcing many studios to experiment with OTT platforms to account for the decline in revenues. As per the report, the revenues for the cinema industry are not expected to return to the pre-pandemic level until 2024. Besides, the Walt Disney Co., AMC Entertainment suffered the biggest fall in revenue this year and has endured nearly a year of closed theatres.

AMC Stocks Leaps on Wednesday  

On Wednesday, AMC Entertainment stock soared by 18% as the company receives clearance to reopen its 13 movie theatre complexes in New York City on March 5. The movie theatre operator’s stock spiked on the same day as the GameStop Inc. stock.

CEO Adam Aron said that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s announcement “is another important step towards restoring the health of the movie theatre industry and of our company.”

News of Gov. Andrew Cuomo permitting New York City cinemas to open on March 5 sent AMC Entertainment stock soaring 7%, to $7.36, in volatile trading on Monday.

AMC and other theatre operators have not been permitted to operate in big cities like Los Angeles and New York due to public health restrictions that hurt their operations.

There’s only one question on everyone’s lips this week: Should you invest in AMC stock?

AMC share pieces have traded at highly volatile levels over the past month as traders in the Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets initiated a “short squeeze.” This group of traders are infamous for pushing back against traditional Wall Street traders who were betting against stocks like GameStop and AMC.

Investors who think they missed the GameStop train are now considering investing in AMC as they believe there is still a chance to make money.

“Today, the sun is shining on AMC,” said Aron in January announcing that bankruptcy was “completely off the table” as it managed to raise $1 billion in extra cash since December.

In a securities filing, AMC Entertainment said it has agreed to a new $411 million loan for its European operations through 2021. Since mid-December, it raised $917 million in cash through a series of new stock sales and bond deals to keep it afloat in the current year. The firm Silver Lake converted a $600 million bond investment to 44.4 million shares on Wednesday. The other investor is Mudrick Capital which had a $100 million bond to nearly 14 million shares of AMC earlier this month, as it agreed to another $100 million in debt for the company.

Kansas City-based AMC is the largest theater chain operator in the U.S., with 1,000 theatres and 10,000 screens across the globe. Last month it announced that it had completed a previously announced sale of stock for $304.8 million.

AMC stock is still down 12% over a year compared to a 16% one-year gain for the S&P 500 Index. Its rival IMAX is up 21% over the last year, while Cinemark is down 20%.