AMC raises $250 million in stock sale amid renewed 'meme stock' frenzy

May 14 (UPI) -- The movie theater chain AMC Entertainment on Tuesday raised $250 million in a stock sale amid the second day of a surge in trading of so-called "meme stocks" that began Monday following the digital return of Keith Gill, better known as "Roaring Kitty."

AMC had reported selling 72.5 million shares of the company at $3.45 a share at a previously disclosed "at-the-market" equity offering launched on March 28, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

AMC Entertainment stock value opened Monday at $3.52 -- a 21% jump from Friday -- and by the afternoon was up 43.13% to $4.18 per share. AMC had a peak at $5.88 but closed at $5.19 a share.

Shares of AMC were up 25%, trading at more than $6 per share as of 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday.

The frenzy was sparked by trading in GameStop, which Gill helped lead a surge of in early 2021.

GameStop stock closed up $12.99 to end Monday's rally at $30.45, surging more than 74% at one point Monday after Gill reappeared on social media, while forcing short sellers to lose nearly $1 billion in the video game retailer. Shares were trading up another 11% in after-market trading.

Shares of GameStop were up 37.14% to a price of $41.76 as of Tuesday afternoon.

Multiple other companies like and including GameStop, AMC or BlackBerry have been appealing to meme stock investors due to their ability to manipulate a "short squeeze" financial gain which has drawn the ire of many on Wall Street -- which also was a goal of the meme stock buys in 2021 -- who see financial losses due to such manipulation, however temporary.

But a financial executive says how the practice is "extremely speculative" and day traders are likely to "pile in" not because the meme stocks have any real or particular value, "but because they hope others will get FOMO (the Fear of Missing Out), jack the price up and then they can sell off and make a quick profit."

"Of course, big, big money can be made by some," Nigel Green, founder and CEO of the international financial advisory firm deVere Group, told CBS News.

"But let's very clear," he said. "This is extremely speculative, and valuations can be expected to be incredibly wild -- in both directions."