The AMC stock apes are back, and this time they brought a blockbuster with them.
Shares of AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) jumped about 27% on Monday, July 20, 2026, closing at $2.46, after the theater chain posted the biggest quarterly revenue and profit in its 106-year history. The surge extended a hot streak: AMC is up roughly 32% over the past week and about 58% year to date, reviving the frenzied retail trading that made it a meme stock legend in 2021.
The Options Frenzy Screams “Meme Stock”
The clearest sign the retail crowd is back is in the options market. More than 300,000 AMC contracts traded on Monday, nearly five times the 30-day average, vaulting AMC into the top 20 most-active options names in the market. Positioning was aggressively bullish: roughly 100,000 calls bought versus 62,000 calls sold, and fewer than 10,000 puts bought. The full-chain put/call ratio of 0.27 shows a textbook AMC apes footprint: speculative, call-heavy, and loud.
But This Time, the Earnings Are Real
What separates this rally from the pure short-squeeze mania of 2021 is that it rides real fundamentals. AMC’s second-quarter revenue rose 14.2% year over year to roughly $1.6 billion, and Adjusted EBITDA climbed 70% to a record $321.4 million, the best quarter in the company’s history. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.14 versus a consensus estimate of -$0.02.
The engine was Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. The film opened to $124 million domestically and $264 million globally in its first three days, Nolan’s biggest global debut ever, recouping its full $250 million production budget almost immediately. That $264 million represents the movie’s three-day worldwide opening gross.
AMC felt the impact directly. The chain drew 4.3 million patrons globally for the film’s opening weekend, and more than half of ticket receipts came from premium giant-screen formats like IMAX and Dolby, which carry higher prices and fatter margins.
Adam Aron Says the Theaters Have Won
CEO Adam Aron is not shy about the moment. He has pointed to “The Odyssey,” alongside “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Dune: Part Three,” and “Avengers: Doomsday,” as reasons 2026 could be the strongest year for movie theaters since before the pandemic.
He also declared victory in the long war against at-home streaming. “I think we’ve won that fight,” Aron said on the earnings call.
A Familiar Pattern, With a Familiar Risk
The risks remain. AMC still carries $3,851.6 million in corporate borrowings and negative stockholders’ equity of $1,452.7 million. At $2.46, the stock remains down roughly 99% over the past five years, a legacy of heavy dilution and a reverse split used to survive.
The movies are back, a strong summer slate could sustain momentum, and for once the apes have earnings on their side. Whether The Odyssey marks a lasting turn for AMC or just another spike will depend on what happens after the popcorn is swept up.
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