A GameStop location in New York, Dec. 23, 2021.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Meme stocks swung violently on Tuesday with huge trading activity in the shares.
GameStop dropped as much as 14% with over 13 million shares traded through afternoon trading, doubling its 30-day average full-day volume of 4.6 million. The stock last traded down about 1%.
AMC Entertainment shares lost nearly 10% at their low of the day before turning green. As of Afternoon trading, 169 million shares have changed hands, tripling its 30-day average of 51 million. The stock last traded up 2.5%.
The reason for the moves were not immediately clear, but both stocks are up big this month amid a broader comeback rally on Wall Street so some investors could be using that pop to take profits in the volatile shares.
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There were some large block trades of GameStop in early trading on the NYSE. Outside of the open there were two trades of more than 20,000 shares apiece, according to FactSet data.
The NYSE briefly halted both stocks for volatility shortly after the open as the stocks popped then dropped.
The duo just notched a strong week as loyal retail investors kept pushing up the shares. GameStop shares rallied a whopping 67% last week as traders got a vote of confidence when chairman Ryan Cohen bought additional 100,000 shares of the video game retailer.
Meanwhile, AMC saw a 28% gain last week after the movie theater chain revealed its plan to buy a tiny gold miner. However, the move to take a significant stake in the gold miner with a shaky financial history confused many Wall Street strategists.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
