AMC disclosure of its new stake comes two months after the movie theater operator said it no longer owned any National CineMedia shares
Shares of National CineMedia Inc. blasted off on record volume Tuesday, after AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. disclosed that it had acquired a large stake in the cinema advertising platform.
Movie theater operator AMC AMC, +3.63% said late Monday that it owned 16.58 million National CineMedia shares NCMI, +54.96%, or 9.1% of the shares outstanding. The disclosure was made in a 13G filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which implies a passive investment.
That makes AMC the second-largest shareholder, according to FactSet data, behind fellow movie theater operator Cinemark Holdings Inc. CNK, +0.43%, which disclosed a week earlier that it owned 48.54 million shares, or 27.4% of the National CineMedia shares outstanding.
AMC’s disclosure comes about two months after it said it owned zero-percent of National CineMedia’s shares. Back in May 2022, AMC had disclosed it owned a 6.8% stake.
National CineMedia’s stock rocketed 56.5% in afternoon trading, but pared earlier gains of as much as 130.8%. Volume swelled to 101.9 million shares, which compared with the full-day average volume over the past 30 days of about 5.2 million shares.
The stock was on track for the second-biggest one-day gain since it went public 16 years ago, just behind the record 62.4% surge seen on March 19, 2020. Trading volume was already more than triple the record of 28.4 million shares seen Feb. 8, 2007, which was the day the stock went public.
At current share prices, AMC’s stake in National CineMedia is worth $3.48 million.
AMC shares climbed 6.4%, and has run up 42.7% amid a four-day win streak. Cinemark’s stock rose 1.7% toward and eight-month high.
National CineMedia’s stock has closed below the $1 level since Sept. 16, 2022. The company has filed for a delay in filing its annual report, as it is engaged with certain lenders, and as those discussions could have a material impact on its disclosures.
The company said in its latest quarterly filing in November that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern.
National CineMedia’s stock has plunged 31.2% over the past three months, while AMC shares have rallied 13.3%, Cinemark shares have soared 73.0% and the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.00% has gained 3.8%.