AMC And GameStop Short Sellers Have Taken A $12B Loss In 2021

Shares of so-called meme stocks AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc and GameStop Corp. both dropped on Thursday morning, providing some relief to short sellers reeling from heavy Wednesday losses.

AMC shares hit new all-time highs of $72.62 this week as a social media-driven buying frenzy has inflicted major pain on short sellers.

The Numbers:On Wednesday, AMC short sellers took a whopping $2.77 billion loss, according to S3 Partners analyst Ihor Dusaniwsky. That loss brought AMC short sellers’ two-day losses up to $3.3 billion and their 7-day losses up to $4.54 billion.

Year to date, AMC short sellers have now logged mark-to-market losses of $5.22 billion, Dusaniwsky said.

AMC’s short interest now stands at about $2.91 billion, or about 18.2% of the stock’s float.

Even after Wednesday’s big gain by AMC, GameStop short sellers have still taken the heavier blow so far in 2021. Dusaniwsky said GameStop short sellers lost $375.7 million on Wednesday, bringing their year-to-date losses up to $7.15 billion.

GameStop now has $2.82 billion in short interest, or about 19.8% of the stock’s float.

As of Wednesday’s close, GameStop and AMC short sellers have endured combined losses of $12.3 billion in 2021, according to S3.

Benzinga’s Take:AMC itself warned investors on Thursday that investing in its stock at current prices could result in them losing “all or a substantial portion” of their money.

Given the unprecedented trading action in both AMC and GameStop so far in 2021, it’s difficult to have too much sympathy for anyone who is short either stock at this point.