Movie theaters are making a comeback, and you know what that means
u/irraclos ·
Reddit — r/wallstreetbets
· June 13, 2026 at 21:43
· ⬆ 37 pts
· 💬 56 comments
| View on Reddit ↗
AI Summary
Summary
Post anecdotal: author observed packed theaters on two dates, cites May 2026 global attendance record (26M guests) and notes AMC +100% since April, CNK +20% with elevated off-exchange short volume (30-60%).
Thesis: Movie theaters are making a comeback; indie horror is reviving attendance; high short interest could trigger a squeeze.
Quality assessment: Noise / speculative retail sentiment. Anecdotal evidence and memes, not rigorous DD. Position size suggests conviction but reasoning is thin.
Score37
Comments56
Upvote %71%
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2 weeks ago, I brought my tinder date to the theaters to see Obsession. There was almost no parking, and the actual theater was almost fully packed. we made sweet love afterwards.
Then this last week, I brought my hinge date to see Backrooms. Same story, almost no parking, packed theater, but this was at a different theater earlier in the day. We went to get food after but then she had to go because "its getting late", probably because I started informing her about the epstein fortnite theory (search it up). even michael jordan misses sometimes.
I have NEVER seen theaters this packed since pre-covid times. May has been a record month in domestic and global attendance since 2019 with 26 million guests. People have been getting tired with hollywood franchise slop, so indie horror slop is exactly what we need to revive theaters.
AMC doubled in price since April, and CNK rose 20%. Both have off exchange short volumes of 30%-60%. Dare I say, something might be brewing in the near future.
TLDR: new movie good, ppl see movie more, movie company happy, I bring more tinder dates to movies, movie company make even more money
Position: 8000 shares of AMC, 250 shares of CNK, 2 dates next week
Author reports full theaters, May 2026 attendance at 26M (highest since 2019), AMC price doubled since April, off-exchange short volume 30-60%. Strong attendance + high short interest = potential short squeeze, especially given meme-stock history. Speculative long on retail sentiment and squeeze dynamics, not fundamentals. Attendance data may be seasonal/fluke; AMC carries heavy debt and dilution risk; short interest may already be declining. TICKER - CNK - LONG | confidence: 0.50 | sentiment: +0.50 Speaker: u/irraclos Thesis: CNK rose 20% since April, also has elevated off-exchange short volume (30-60%), benefits from same attendance rebound. Coattail play on theater recovery with lower volatility than AMC; could squeeze if short interest persists. Lower conviction but same narrative – theater recovery + short squeeze potential. CNK has less meme appeal; attendance data might not sustain; short volume may normalize.