Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres, has disclosed a sale of 625,000 shares in parent AMC Entertainment Holdings to raise proceeds of $25.33 million.
The sale was telegraphed to meme stock investors by Aron during an earnings call Monday following the release of AMC’s third quarter earnings. “Prudent estate planning suggests I should diversify my assets a bit,” Aron told shareholders, while warning that company “naysayers” would pounce on the sale, without noting he would retain “an enormous personal stake” in AMC Entertainment.
Despite Aron’s note ahead of his stock sale, shares in AMC fell $1.60, or around 4.2 percent, to $36.69 in after-hours trading Wednesday. In an SEC form 4 filing, Aron revealed he paid an average price of $40.529 for the 625,000 shares sold and that he retained a direct beneficial ownership of 408,497 shares.
The filing also indicates Aron will have around 3 million additional shares following future vesting of equity grants.
AMC shares have been volatile after the company used its status as a meme stock, thanks to rogue retail traders on Reddit and other social media hubs, to raise fresh cash at a steep market premium and ensure survival during the pandemic while paying down debt and interest expenses.
During the earnings call earlier this week, Aron told investors AMC was on a sustained path to recovery, judging by key metrics from the first three quarters of 2021 amid a wider box office rebound for the exhibition industry.
