Hycroft Mining shares are now higher than investor AMC's after skyrocketing this week

By James Rogers

Movie-theater chain and original meme stock AMC stunned Wall Street with a $29.7 million investment in Hycroft in 2022

Shares of Hycroft Mining Holding Corp. are now trading higher than shares of cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., which stunned Wall Street when it made a $29.7 million investment in the gold and silver miner in 2022.

Hycroft shares (HYMC) rose 8.9% to close at $3.67 on Wednesday, while AMC's stock (AMC) closed at $3.02 after falling 2.6%. The mining company's stock ended Tuesday's session at $3.37 after climbing 22.6%, while AMC closed down 1.3% at $3.10.

Hycroft's stock rose on volume of 2.73 million shares Wednesday, well above its 65-day average of 207,610 shares. Short interest as a percentage of Hycroft Mining's float is 5.8%, according to the latest exchange data.

Related: Hycroft Mining's stock bounces off record low after reverse stock split takes effect

Hycroft shares, which also gained 24.4% in Monday's session, are now on a five-day winning streak. The stock has surged on no apparent news - although gold prices have risen recently, hitting a series of record highs in what's been described as an "unprecedented rally" fueled by softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data. Silver prices have also followed gold's rally.

The surge in Hycroft's share price has garnered plenty of attention on social media. "$HYMC closes higher than $AMC??? where even are we right now?" wrote @splendidthings3 on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Tuesday.

The Hycroft Mine, which straddles Humboldt and Pershing counties in northern Nevada, encompasses approximately 64,000 acres, including both patented and unpatented claims, according to the company.

The Hycroft deposit has more than 10.6 million ounces of gold and more than 361 million ounces of silver in the measured and indicated category - equivalent to more than 15 million ounces of gold, Hycroft says on its website.

An additional 3.4 million ounces of gold and 96 million ounces of silver are in the inferred category, equivalent to an additional 4.6 million ounces of gold. Only 10% of Hycroft's land has been explored, the mining company said.

Related: Hycroft Mining eyes higher grade opportunities, launches largest exploration program in nearly a decade

Nevada is home to a host of mines, including the Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge mines, which were the country's largest gold mines in 2022, according to Mining Technology, citing information from GlobalData. The Carlin, Cortez and Turquoise Ridge mines are operated by Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture set up by gold giants Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD) and Newmont Corp. (NEM) in 2019.

Barrick and Newmont have market caps of $30.14 billion and $42.41 billion, respectively. Hycroft's market cap is $70.8 million.

Prior to AMC's investment, Hycroft was a so-called penny stock. The company's shares have risen 49.8% in 2024, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 9.3%.

Shares of original meme stock AMC have fallen 50.7% in 2024.

Related: AMC CEO says domestic box office has 'finally turned upwards'

Barbara Kollmeyer contributed.

-James Rogers

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04-03-24 1640ET

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