amc entertainment’s amc preferred equity units or apes rose 12 on their trading debut on monday while the theater chain’s stock fell 385 but analysts were unfazed despite concerns expressed by some users on social media about amc’s stock plunge analysts say that it was not unexpected noting the apes’ similarity with a 2for1 stock split the volatility will settle they added the ape equity had surged after market open quickly rising more than 30 before pulling back amc entertainment holdings inc’s amc special dividend is the latest stage in a journey that took the movie theater chain from beleaguered pandemic victim to memestock phenomenon and also marks the latest move in a fight over stock issuances ape is a nod to the investors who turned amc into a meme stock who often refer to themselves as “apes” or “ape nation” some individuals were critical of trading halts in the two securities as they swung about in early trading see now amc’s ‘apes’ start trading today what will the potential windfall mean for the meme stock and cinema chain but trading halts are a normal part of stock trading and are implemented by stock exchanges as a way to rein in volatility the sp 500 index spx is down 17 on monday others took issue with the media’s coverage of the special dividend amc shares which have fallen 593 this year have declined 43 over the last three months the sp 500 index has declined 128 in 2022 and has gained 46 over the last three months it has generally been difficult deciphering exactly what drives trading in amc shares recently according to b riley analyst eric wold “i suspect that will be the case with the ape shares going forward” he added “however given that the special dividend is similar to a 2for1 stock split it makes sense to see amc shares pressured with this issuance” see now amc takes aim at massive debt burden with ‘ape’ special dividend wold expects the two classes of equities to trade relatively similarly and at similar levels over time “they both have the same economic value” he said “however there is likely to be some shortterm impact from index funds readjusting for this issuance as the apes are not included in the indices but the common shares are included” wedbush analyst alicia reese thinks that amc’s trading level is actually better than expected “in the absence of any other noise amc shares should be down around 50 to 9 with ape shares rising to 9 given friday’s amc closing of 1801” she told marketwatch “amc shares trading higher than 9 is a positive but ape shares trading below amc shares makes little sense” “we think they settle together around 9 each by the end of trading today maybe up somewhat from there” she added see now how one investor applied the lessons of the meme stocks frenzy to blockchain and nfts last week amc shares were weighed down by a report in the wall street journal that uk cinema chain cineworld group plc cnwgy cine  the parent of regal entertainment group was preparing to file for bankruptcy on monday cineworld confirmed that it is considering a possible voluntary chapter 11 filing in the united states according to a barron’s report the idea that cineworld’s bankruptcy is detrimental for amc is way off the mark according to wedbush’s reese “we keep seeing articles that cineworld’s bankruptcy is a negative for amc and the industry but i fail to see how that’s the case” she told marketwatch “cineworld ran out of cash while amc has plenty” “older regal theaters are a tough choice next to a nice cinemark or amc theater so i think they’ve struggled to drive the same level of attendance postpandemic” she added “in any case we don’t think cineworld’s issues indicate the same for amc or cinemark as the latter companies are better positioned with more cash available” see now amc may have been a memestock darling but weakness in some key areas has the company on shaky ground in a statement released last week amc ceo adam aron noted that the company ended its most recent fiscal quarter with more than 1 billion of liquidity citing “significant amounts” of cash raised in 2020 and 2021 the ape special dividend should also make amc a stronger company he added while amc remains a cause célèbre for a vocal community of individual investors the company and its fellow meme stock phenomenon gamestop corp were recently added to new constructs’ list of “zombie” companies facing severe cash burn amc’s financial health has also been cited as a cause for concern by rapidratings a company that assesses the finances of public and private companies of eight analysts surveyed by factset three have a hold rating and five have a sell rating for amc