AMC cashes in on Reddit-trading frenzy with $428 million share sale

Closed signs are seen on an AMC Theatre during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, U.S., April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - Cinema operator AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc has raised about $428 million from a share sale, capitalizing on the retail-trading driven surge in its stock earlier this year.

The world's largest cinema chain operator's shares have gained more than five-folds in 2021 thanks to interest from amateur traders on Reddit that were piling into heavily shorted stocks such as GameStop Corp and AMC to punish hedge funds that bet against them.