Midday Meme Stock Report for 7/16: ApeFest, AMC, GameStop, Newegg, Senseonics

Investing

Published: July 16, 2021 1:21 pm

You may not be reading it first here, but the idea is irresistible. A group called Raging Ape Entertainment is sponsoring a conference on the first anniversary of last January’s attack on short sellers, primarily GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC). Details are a little scarce, but the so-called Ape Festival is currently set to run for three days starting January 20, 2022, at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. A three-day pass costs $150, but festival-goers can pay $250 to participate in a beer pong tournament, $600 for the “Silverback Gorilla Experience” or $1,000 for the “Moon Ape Experience” and VIP Afterparty. Look here for Reddit’s top definition of an “ape.”

The aforementioned GameStop may be on its way to ending a five-day losing streak. The stock’s year-to-date gain has been cut in half since its January peak and has dropped by half since a recent peak in early June. Investors Business Daily reported Friday morning that investors have seen $7.7 billion in value erased since then. Even so, the stock is up close to 800% so far this year, and that’s not bad for those who got in early.

AMC investors, according to IBD, have seen $13 billion in share price gains evaporate since early June. Even given the poor showing over the past six weeks, however, AMC stock is still up 1,600% for 2021, and the company is worth about $18 billion more than it was on January 1. The theatrical release of “F9: The Fast Saga” and “Black Widow” over the past few weeks may have breathed some life back into the company’s business, but it hasn’t done a lot for the stock.

Newegg Commerce Inc. (NASDAQ: NEGG) stock was on a rampage Friday. This stock is virtually impervious to a short attack because less than 1% of the shares are currently sold short. Plus, company insiders control more than 60% of outstanding shares, while less than half a percent of shares is held by institutional investors. Bidding up this stock makes the insiders much richer and probably requires exquisite timing by small investors in order to realize a profit. Be careful out there.

Senseonics Holdings Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: SENS), makers of a continuous glucose monitoring system for people with diabetes, received some good news in late January, and that, happily for the company, happened at the same time that some retail investors were feeling the power after the success of the attacks on short sellers of GameStop and AMC. Senseonics stock rose 500% by mid-February and still trades more than 250% higher than it did on January 1.

At midday Friday, Newegg traded up more than 18% at $30.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $2.80 to $79.07. The average daily trading volume is nearly 3 million shares, and about 15.5 million shares have changed hands at that time.

Senseonics stock traded up nearly 11% in the noon hour, at $3.07 in a 52-week range of $0.35 to $5.56. The average daily trading volume is around 30 million, and 23 million shares had traded already.

GameStop shares were up more than 5% in the noon hour to $175.47. The stock’s 52-week range is $3.77 to $483.00, and the average daily trading volume is 6.6 million shares. Some 2.1 million shares had traded.

AMC traded up about 2.5%, at $36.89 in a 52-week range of $1.91 to $72.62. The average daily trading volume is 164.7 million shares, and nearly 86 million had changed hands.